Deployment
HX-2 (and HF-1) at Ukraine (combat zones)
Helsing, founded in March 2021 in Munich by Torsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, and Niklas Koehler and chaired by Spotify's Daniel Ek, began as a European defense-artificial-intelligence software company building battlefield ISR fusion, the Altra strike-reconnaissance system, and the Centaur air-combat agent flown in a June 2025 Gripen E trial, and has since moved into strike-drone hardware. Its HX-2 is an electric X-wing precision strike munition with roughly 100 kilometers of range, about 250 kilometers per hour, and up to 5 kilograms of payload, with onboard AI for electronic-warfare resistance, built at the company's southern-Germany Resilience Factory at a stated capacity of more than a thousand per month, while its HF-1 is a plywood-fuselage AI loitering munition with GPS-independent navigation manufactured together with Ukrainian industry.
Helsing has raised to a 12-billion-euro valuation through a 600-million-euro Series D in June 2025, roughly 1.37 billion euro in total. The registry records its drone line at production maturity: a German-underwritten 4,000-unit HF-1 order with 1,950 units delivered to Ukraine provides the verified fielding anchor, alongside a 6,000-unit HX-2 order announced in February 2025 and an operational serial-production factory, though the separate air-combat software side such as Centaur remains at trial stage and should not halo the whole company.
On AI substance the GPS-independent navigation and electronic-warfare resistance are credible and battlefield-relevant, corroborated by Ukrainian reporting of HF-1 use, but claims of full electronic-warfare immunity are largely company-attested with thin independent validation, and a reported 18-billion-dollar 2026 round, full delivery against the HX-2 order, and sustained thousand-per-month throughput are recorded as claimed but not verified.
HX-2 (and HF-1) by Helsing · Operated by Helsing · Catalog entry · 3 sources · not yet field-verified · Drones
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On 18 November 2024, German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius confirmed that Germany had committed 4,000 Helsing HF-1 loitering munitions to Ukraine. The HF-1 is an AI-guided strike drone made partly from plywood, produced in partnership with Ukrainian industry to reduce supply-chain vulnerability. By early 2025 approximately 1,000-1,950 had been delivered; Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) used them operationally for strike missions.
The Helsing official February 2025 announcement describes the HF-1 as a "previous order" already underway, distinct from the new HX-2 contract. Note: Ukraine subsequently halted further HX-2 orders (the next-generation electrically propelled variant) over reported operational issues; this deployment record covers the HF-1 programme only.
Key facts
- Drone type
- Helsing HF-1 loitering munition (AI-guided, partly plywood, ~100 km range)
- Order size
- 4,000 HF-1 units confirmed by German MoD, November 2024
- Delivery status
- ~1,000-1,950 delivered by early 2025; production co-located with Ukrainian industry
- Operator
- Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (primary reported user)
- HX-2 note
- Ukraine halted further HX-2 (6k contract Feb 2025) orders; HF-1 contract proceeded separately
Safety record
No incidents on record for HX-2 (and HF-1) at Ukraine (combat zones).
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
- Trust tier
- Catalog entry · 3 sources · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
- Last updated
- 2026-07-10
- Model
- HX-2 (and HF-1)
- Company
- Helsing
- Location
- Ukraine (combat zones)
- Operator
- Helsing
- Status
- operational
- Operator type
- customer deployed
- First seen
- 2024-11-18
- ID
152aed3b-7c02-41a8-9ea1-914e3c484f0d
Timeline
- Nov 2024First recordedHX-2 (and HF-1) first documented operating at Ukraine (combat zones).
- Jul 2026Current status: operational, reviewedLatest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.
On the deployment map
HX-2 (and HF-1) operates in Ukraine (combat zones). Explore the full verified map:
Sources (3)
- https://helsing.ai/newsroom/helsing-to-produce-6000-additional-strike-drones-for-ukraine · 2025-02-13
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/13/germanys-helsing-doubles-down-on-drones-for-ukraine-scales-up-manufacturing/ · 2025-02-13
- https://en.defence-ua.com/weapon_and_tech/smart_plywood_drone_helsing_hf_1_makes_difference_in_ukraine_quantities_and_operational_details_revealed-14090.html · 2025-01-01
Methodology: Verified · 3 sources (1 primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-10
Verification posture
Verified
High confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-07-10
Maturity + lifecycle
Maturity stage: production
Lifecycle: active
Architectural position
Cohort: aerial
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- primary-company-ir
- Company IR disclosure
- 1
- secondary-industry-publication
- Industry publication
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for HX-2 (and HF-1) at Ukraine (combat zones).Common questions
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