New tech, old world: Helsing and ARX partner to develop AI-powered defense systems for Europe

Helsing, an AI defense company, and ARX Robotics, a specialist in unmanned ground systems, have announced a strategic partnership to develop AI-based reconnaissance and strike systems for European defence forces. The collaboration aims to digitize and network land domain operations using artificial intelligence, drawing on battle-tested technologies from Ukraine to give European armed forces a technological advantage on the battlefield.

What you should know: The partnership focuses on transforming Europe’s fragmented and analog land warfare capabilities into a connected, AI-driven network.

• The companies will jointly develop reconnaissance and strike systems that enable armed forces to “act faster, more precisely, more efficiently and from greater distances than is possible today.”
• Both firms plan to leverage battle-proven systems and lessons learned from Ukraine, where networked land technologies already play a crucial role in combat operations.
• The collaboration spans multiple European countries, with joint projects planned in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine.

Why this matters: European defence forces are racing to modernize their capabilities amid ongoing conflicts that have demonstrated the strategic importance of networked warfare technologies.

• The partnership aims to secure “battlefield superiority for European defence forces” through technological advancement rather than traditional military approaches.
• Ukraine’s battlefield experience has proven that networked land technologies provide significant combat advantages, making this partnership particularly relevant for European security.

What they’re saying: Company leaders emphasized the strategic importance of combining their respective expertise in AI and unmanned ground systems.

• “ARX is leading the field in unmanned ground systems. By strengthening the land domain together, we are delivering on Helsing’s promise: to protect European democracies through technological superiority,” said Gundbert Scherf, Co-CEO of Helsing.
• Marc Wietfeld, CEO of ARX Robotics, noted: “With Helsing, we have found the best-in-class partner to create technological step-changes in the European defence sector. We will collaborate for example in the UK, Ukraine, and Germany to give European and Ukrainian armed forces a technological advantage.”