The co-founders of German defense AI company Helsing announced on December 2 that production of their HX-2 “Karma” kamikaze drone is now in full swing, with the first hundreds of nearly 4,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs ) intended for Ukraine, which will be delivered this month. The total amount was included in a memorandum of cooperation signed between Ukraine’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and the company in February.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said he was “very pleased that the delivery of these drones equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) technology is already underway”, according to German news outlet Bild.
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The electrically powered HX-2, with its X-shaped main wing and tail configuration with four electric motors in the tail section, weighs nearly 12 kilograms (26.5 pounds), with suggestions that a third or more of this amount would include its warhead. It has a top speed of nearly 220 km/h (137 mph) and a maximum range of 100 kilometers (62 miles), according to the company’s website. Helsing says drones can be loaded with a variety of warheads optimized for use against armored vehicles, personnel or structures.
Product information states: “Onboard artificial intelligence ensures the HX-2 is immune to hostile electronic warfare (EW) measures through its ability to search, re-identify and engage targets, even without a signal or connection. continuous data, while allowing a human operator to stay on top of all critical decisions.
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Although Helsing remains tight-lipped about the nature of the HX-2’s onboard sensors, navigation and target acquisition systems, much can be gleaned from its physical appearance. The two small openings visible in its nose are likely electro-optical and thermal cameras, with probably a pitot speed measuring device on one side.
Helsing’s press release states that its Altra reconnaissance/strike software can be used to control multiple HX-2s assembled into swarms, controlled by a single human operator.
It says the HX-2 was designed for mass production at a unit cost significantly lower than current equivalent conventional systems such as the US Switchblade or the Russian Lancet, without providing a detailed cost breakdown.
Niklas Köhler, co-founder of Helsing, said: “With the HX-2, we have created a new intelligent effector that combines mass, autonomy and precision. Individual HX-2s can reliably engage armored targets in highly contested environments. When deployed on a large scale along borders, the HX-2 can serve as a powerful counter-invasion shield against enemy ground forces.
Helsing’s other co-founder, Gundbert Scherf, said: “NATO urgently needs technology to protect the integrity of the eastern flank. At Helsing, we have invested (in developing) this capability and (giving) NATO an advantage through precision mass. HX-2 provides autonomy through software and AI, while retaining full human control and monitoring. Electronic warfare had threatened to erode (drones’) ability to act, and we are returning that ability to operators. »
Bild reported in mid-November that some earlier prototypes of the drone had already been used in operations against Russian forces in eastern Ukraine and that lessons learned from those operations were being incorporated into final production versions .
Helsing says the drone’s onboard software can be updated wirelessly “to dynamically adapt to new threats and tactics,” although it’s unclear whether this could be done during an attack operation.