United to win: German company to supply Ukraine with additional 6,000 mini-Taurus drones

The German startup Helsing will provide Ukraine's armed forces with another six thousand of the latest drones based on artificial intelligence called "mini-Taurus."

DW reports this.

It is noted that the Munich company will thus increase the supply of AI-based kamikaze strike drones to Ukraine by 2.5 times.

The supply of AI-based strike drones to Ukraine's armed forces from Helsing first became known in November 2024.

The Bild edition also first wrote about this, and later, the German Ministry of Defense confirmed this information. It was reported that Ukraine would be given four thousand HF-1 drones.

The media subsequently dubbed them "mini-Taurus," drawing a parallel to the German long-range TAURUS cruise missiles that Ukraine has long sought from German authorities.

According to Bild, the Helsing company intends to transfer another six thousand improved drones of the new type HX-2 to the Ukrainian army.

The manufacturer's website states that "HX-2 is already being produced in Germany" and "the software embedded in them is already being used in Ukraine."

Bild notes that the HF-1 drones were a joint German-Ukrainian development, while the HX-2 is exclusively German. It was completed and put into mass production at the end of 2024. The publication calls them "the most modern kamikaze drones in the world":

• their flight range is up to 100 km,
• mass is 12 kg,
• speed is 220 km/h.

Such drones can attack tanks, artillery pieces, infantry, and enemy command posts.

Thanks to AI, the drone is practically invulnerable to electronic warfare (EW) and jamming: it independently finds its way even in bad weather and can strike autonomously without communication with the operator.

According to Bild, the new supply of six thousand drones requires financing in the amount of more than 100 million euros.

The Helsing company expects the German authorities to take on these costs, approving a new military aid package to Ukraine for three billion euros. According to media reports, the German Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Defense favor allocating these funds as soon as possible, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz is not giving final consent.

Bild writes that the Helsing company has already opened a factory in southern Germany to produce new drones. Its exact location is being kept secret. The enterprise will have a capacity of a thousand HX-2 drones per month. Thus, Helsing plans to fulfill the new contract entirely this year.

For reference:

Since the start of the full-scale war, Germany has become the largest supplier of military assistance to Ukraine among European countries. In particular, Berlin has transferred:

• Patriot air defense systems,
• Leopard 2 tanks,
• PzH 2000 self-propelled guns and other weapons to support the Ukrainian military.

There is also an agreement with Germany to reinforce air defense immediately. The deal includes arrangements where the participating countries will contribute to collaborative projects or fund their initiatives to enhance the air defense capabilities of Ukraine's armed forces.

Thus, the sixth of the planned IRIS-T air defense systems from Germany will arrive in Ukraine by the end of this year.

In addition, the German company Rheinmetall has transferred another 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

As reported, Germany will soon transfer about 100 guided missiles to Ukraine for the IRIS-T air defense systems.