German firm Helsing and Denmark’s Systematic are joining forces to bring AI-powered drone swarm capabilities to Europe, shaped by lessons from Ukraine’s battlefield.
Announced at DSEI 2025 in London, the deal will see Helsing drones equipped with Systematic’s SitaWare C4ISR suite, already used by European militaries including Austria and Germany.
Together, the setup lets AI-driven drones operate as a team, sharing data instantly across Europe’s command networks and speeding up recon-to-strike missions.
“What wins wars is not individual systems, but the ability to connect them and to iterate at the speed of relevance. Together, we will deliver exactly that for Europe’s defense,” Helsing Co-Founder and CEO Gundbert Scherf noted.
Systematic Founder Michael Holm added that partnerships like this help users “get the most out of their systems” as militaries adapt to the AI age.
“As Europe continues to invest in its own defense technological and industrial base, we are helping to improve European sovereignty, while also providing our allies and partners with advanced data solutions,” he stated.
Rapid Recon-Strike
SitaWare works by turning raw drone and sensor feeds into fast, coordinated battlefield action.
It lets commanders oversee the entire chain — from spotting a target to striking it and confirming the results — all within a single system.
Uncrewed systems gather images, video, and location data, which the suite fuses into a common battlefield picture. From there, commanders can build target lists, draft plans, and assign strike assets such as drones or aircraft.
The software also handles airspace deconfliction, keeping multiple platforms from interfering with each other during missions.
After a strike, the same network of drones provides battle damage assessment to confirm results.
By closing this loop quickly and at scale, SitaWare helps commanders make faster decisions, reduce mistakes, improve safety, and sustain multiple mission cycles in real time.
Helsing in Europe
Helsing has positioned itself at the forefront of Europe’s AI and drone push, led by its HX-2 strike drone already deployed in Ukraine, with thousands more in production.
Earlier in 2025, the company also flew its AI pilot with a Gripen E fighter jet, demonstrating new applications in threat detection and neutralization.
