Grundbert Scherf, co‑founder of the Munich start‑up Helsing, argues that NATO’s eastern flank should be secured largely with European weapons systems rather than relying on U.S. equipment. “We have heard enough alarm bells” Scherf told “Der Spiegel”. “The eastern flank should be able to act militarily as purely European as possible”. The founder’s company, which produces for example “lurking ammunition” in the form of kamikaze drones, emphasises that the goal is to use technologies developed in Europe.
Scherf calls for an immediate increase in European armaments procurement and for a swift overhaul of the EU’s strict procurement rules. “It is absurd that it is often easier to buy an American product than a European one” he explained, noting that he had served as a special adviser to Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) from 2014 for two years, working on a more efficient acquisition process.
The German armed forces plan to equip their first kamikaze drone units with Helsing’s current HX‑2 model, pending approval from the Bundestag. In response to widespread critique of such AI‑supported weapons systems, Scherf says he takes ethical concerns seriously. “Many of our employees come from outside the defence sector and want to be able to stand morally behind their products” he said. “We do not build autonomous killer machine. No machine in our system makes a decision”.
The AI only automates reconnaissance, freeing soldiers from frame‑by‑frame image analysis and giving them more time for human decision‑making, Scherf added. “Better reconnaissance can deliver more precise strikes than human operators under pressure” he argued. “Traditional artillery, by comparison, is essentially blind”.