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European defence technology company Helsing announces production of 6,000 HX-2 strike drones for delivery to Ukraine.
The new contract follows a previous order of 4,000 HF-1 strike drones, which are already being delivered to Ukraine.
The HX-2 electrically propelled X-wing precision munition has a range of up to the 100-kilometre range, can assemble into swarms, and is designed to be mass-producible at a low unit cost.
“We are scaling up production of HX-2 in response to additional orders from Ukraine, where precision mass is offsetting a numerical disadvantage in legacy systems on a daily basis. It is clear that NATO has important lessons to learn, and fast,” said Gundbert Scherf, co-founder of Helsing.
“With our Resilience Factories, we are taking a distributed approach towards mass manufacturing these systems across Europe, allowing individual nation states to produce locally and ensure sovereignty of production and supply chain.”
In addition, Helsing has announced the completion of the first Resilience Factory in Southern Germany to provide nation-states with local and sovereign manufacturing capacities. The factory has an initial monthly production capacity of more than 1,000 HX-2.
“We have assembled Europe’s world-leading manufacturing talent to completely rethink and develop a new generation of mass-producible effects,” said Niklas Köhler, co-founder of Helsing.
“Our Resilience Factories combine software-first design with scalable manufacturing techniques. We solve the hard problems in the software layer, not the electronics.
“This generates affordable precision mass, deters adversaries, and protects our democracies. HX-2 is just the first of a whole range of products based on this premise.”
Earlier this month, the United Kingdom announced a £150 million firepower package for Ukraine, following the 26th Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO HQ in Brussels on 12 February.
A new firepower package of military aid, including drones, tanks and air defence systems, will support Ukrainian troops fighting Russia on the frontline, which is part of the UK’s £3 billion annual pledge to Ukraine.
It also includes more than 50 armoured and protective vehicles, including modernised T-72 tanks to be deployed to Ukraine.
“2025 is the critical year for the war in Ukraine. Ukrainians continue to fight with huge courage – military and civilians alike, and their bravery – fused with our support – has proved a lethal combination,” said UK Defence Secretary John Healey.
“Speaking as a European Defence Minister, we know our responsibilities. We are doing more of the heavy lifting and sharing more of the burden.
“While Russia is weakened, it remains undeniably dangerous. We must step up further – and secure peace through strength – together.”
The UK Defence Secretary also confirmed that the UK is on track to provide more than 10,000 drones to Ukraine in a single year, with final deliveries due next month.
