Grundbert Scherf, co‑founder of the Munich start‑up Helsing, argues that NATO’s eastern flank should be furnished largely with European weapons systems rather than ones from the United States. “We’ve had enough alarm calls” he told “Der Spiegel”. “On the eastern flank we should be able to act, as far as possible, purely European militarily”.
Scherf says the key to achieving this is an immediate surge in orders for armaments across Europe and a swift reform of the EU’s rigid procurement rules. “It’s absurdly easier to buy a U.S. product than a European one” he explained. He had previously served as a special advisor to Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen (CDU) for two years, focusing on more efficient procurement in the defense ministry.
The German Armed Forces are planning to deploy Helsing’s latest model, the HX‑2, as part of their initial kit of kamikaze drones-also known in German as “lauernde Munition”. Parliamentary approval is still pending for the purchase.
When asked about widespread criticism of AI‑enabled weapons systems, Scherf stressed that he takes ethical concerns seriously. Many of his employees come from non‑defence backgrounds and want to stand behind their products morally. “We do not build autonomous killer machines” he emphasized. “No machine makes a decision on its own”. Instead, the artificial intelligence automates reconnaissance, freeing soldiers from the task of sifting through images frame by frame and allowing them more time to make human decisions. He argues that this improved situational awareness can lead to more precise strikes than human operators under pressure, contrasting with “classic artillery that essentially fires blindly”.