Rüstung: Helsing-Drohnenjet schlägt im Simulator echte Piloten

A demonstration for Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger (CDU) in Munich saw the AI-powered Helsing Drone Jet outperform real pilots in several air battles during a simulation. The politician commended the rapid progress made in five to six years, stating that Helsing aims to conduct the first test flight next year. Founded in 2021, Helsing now employs approximately 1,300 people, nearly seven times more than in 2024.

The core of the drone jet is an AI pilot named "Centaur." During the demonstration, two pilots - a former Bundeswehr airman and seasoned test pilot, as well as a former Mexican Air Force pilot - were pitted against "Centaur" and lost several times. The system is also being tested in real combat aircraft. Helsing's tech VP Robert Fink credits the accelerated development process, as the machine now trains in synthetic environments, generating environments based on user-defined parameters such as terrain, time of day, and weather conditions.

This synthetic AI, a form of artificial intelligence, creates these environments with just a few minutes or hours compared to decades of training from real military footage, enemy aircraft, and other factors. Helsing emphasizes that its AI poses no threat to external computer systems, as the software lacks the ability to escape its limited military environment.

Unlike the AI models from American startups that regularly spark media debates, Helsing's synthetic training AI does not grant all computer capabilities. In July's recent funding round, the company raised $1.8 billion in investor funds. In June 2025, Helsing acquired the bavarian aerospace company Grob, specializing in lightweight aircraft development, whose engineers will now build the actual aircraft.

The machine is expected to be 11 meters long and weigh four tons. More: Ten F-16s by 2026 – Germany's new growth hope.