Helsing enters air defence: AI system Contra is designed to intercept drone swarms
Munich-based defence AI company Helsing has unveiled the autonomous air defence system Contra in Berlin, with two in-house interceptors. Deliveries are due to start in 2027 at the earliest.
Photo: Oddlief / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Video: YouTube · Helsing · youtube.com
Helsing presented its first air defence system in Berlin on Monday. Contra is designed to merge sensors and interceptors into a single air picture and, according to the company, can detect and engage hundreds or thousands of drones and missiles at the same time. It is controlled via Helsing's Altra command software; the company says decision-making and prioritisation remain with the users. Third-party systems such as other interceptors, lasers or nets can also be integrated. The video shows the system and both interceptors.
It comes with two new container-launched weapons: AD-1 Inferno is a jet-powered interceptor that can loiter, fly in swarms and re-engage a missed target. AD-2 Ambush is a solid-rocket guided missile for rapid intercepts which, according to Helsing, reaches Mach 2.5 and a range of more than 20 kilometres. Both are meant to find their targets with a radar seeker even in bad weather and to be mass-produced more cheaply than existing interceptor missiles.
Helsing points to Russia's growing production of jet-powered drones and cruise missiles; citing intelligence, the company says 4,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones alone are built each month. Contra is still in development, and Helsing says it has a contract with an unnamed potential customer. The company gave the second quarter of 2027 as the earliest delivery date. Co-founder and president Niklas Köhler said Contra ends the air defence dilemma between slow, weather-dependent drones and expensive missiles fired at cheap mass-produced targets.