Germany to deploy 12,000 kamikaze drones near its eastern border with Russia

Germany plans to purchase up to 12,000 kamikaze drones from two startups — Helsing and Stark — and defense giant Rheinmetall. The new drones are intended for the German brigade in Lithuania, which will defend NATO's eastern flank against Russia. This is reported by the Financial Times, writes UNN.

Details

Two German startups — Helsing and Stark, as well as the country's largest defense contractor Rheinmetall will each receive a share of the contract worth about 300 million euros, three sources familiar with the situation said.

Formal agreements have not yet been signed, but if Germany's parliamentary budget committee approves the contracts, they are likely to be the largest orders for the two young companies.

Under the agreement, the three companies are to supply up to 12,000 drones, although only a portion of them will be delivered initially.

The drones are expected to enter service with the new German brigade in Lithuania, created to defend NATO's eastern flank against Russia.

According to informed sources, the authorities hope that the distribution of the contract among the three companies will promote innovation.

They do this to maintain competition and get the best system

The deal comes amid a push by European countries to strengthen their drone warfare capabilities — both defensive systems to protect against drones and offensive ones designed to hit enemy targets.

Investments in European defense startups have soared since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as venture funds actively invest in military technologies.

Helsing, a startup backed by Spotify founder Daniel Ek, is currently Europe's most valuable defense startup with a valuation of 12 billion euros.

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Over the past year, the company has announced plans to supply 6,000 attack drones to Ukraine, acquired German aircraft manufacturer Grob, and stated its intention to produce underwater surveillance systems in the UK.

Stark, founded just 15 months ago, is backed by investors such as American billionaire Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley venture fund Sequoia Capital. The company has a team in Ukraine working on testing and development, and in July, Stark announced the opening of a factory in the British city of Swindon.

Plans to transfer part of the contract to the giant Rheinmetall, which has already received tens of billions of euros in government orders, came as a surprise to some in the defense industry.

Although the company cooperates with American drone manufacturer Anduril and Israeli UVision, until recently it did not have its own attack drone.

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According to two sources, Rheinmetall, headquartered in Düsseldorf, offered the German military the armed FV-014 (Raider) drone, which the company publicly unveiled in September. The drone can carry a payload of up to 5 kg and has a range of up to 100 km.

Stark plans to supply its Virtus drones, and Helsing — the HX-2 model.

"Rheinmetall managed to find a way to get into the game," said one representative of the German defense industry.

Helsing, Stark, Rheinmetall and the German defense procurement agency declined to comment.

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