In response to recent reports of Russian advancement in drone and missile production, German military AI startup Helsing has unveiled Contra; an AI-controlled autonomous air defence system against scaled drone and missile attacks.
The company also introduced two advanced interceptor missiles, AD-1 Inferno and AD-2 Ambush, designed to outmatch and outrun even the fastest jet-powered drone and cruise missile threats.
Niklas Köhler, co-founder and President of Helsing, says: “Contra ends the air defence dilemma: slow fair-weather drones, or million-euro missiles fired at cheap, mass-produced targets. Our AI links existing sensors and effectors in real time and adds our interceptors, AD-1 and AD-2. With jet and rocket propulsion, a low-cost all-weather radar seeker, and two independent European supply chains, they deliver autonomous fire superiority up to ten kilometres high–affordable and at industrial scale.”
This enter a competitive landscape for European DefenceTech spending and activity.
EU-Startups has reported approximately €511 million in financing across European startups developing interceptor systems, counter-drone technologies and related autonomous capabilities in 2026.
Among the closest comparisons, UK-based Cambridge Aerospace secured €173.1 million in April and a further €259.7 million in August to scale affordable air-defence interceptors, while Estonia’s Frankenburg Technologies raised €30 million to expand missile manufacturing.
In Germany, Hannover-based INLEAP Photonics secured €20 million for laser-based drone defence, alongside smaller investments in Denmark’s Shotling (€700k) and Sweden’s Freya Industries (€533k).
Related autonomy investments included €12 million for Norway’s Six Robotics and €15 million for Finland’s Kelluu. Separately, German unmanned-systems developer Quantum Systems raised €1 billion in July. Helsing itself previously secured a €600 million Series D in June 2025, as documented by EU-Startups.
Founded in 2021 in Munich, Helsing is a Military AI company that designs new types of AI-defined and autonomous systems across multiple domains.
According to the company, recent intelligence indicates that Russia has systematically increased its jet-powered drone and cruise missile production, with Geran-4 and Geran-5 jet drone output alone rising to 4,000 units per month. At the same time, Russia is constructing numerous additional launch sites for such drones.
This reportedly brings parts of the EU within range of potential Russian attacks.
Contra is designed to counter this threat. Autonomous AI-based operation allows the detection and engagement of hundreds or thousands of drone and missile threats at the same time by fusing sensors and effectors into a single air picture. With Helsing’s Altra C2 platform as the foundation, users allegedly retain full control over decision making and prioritisation.
To effectively engage large numbers of fast aerial targets, Helsing is also developing two missile interceptors with advanced radar seekers:
- AD-1 Inferno is a jet-powered interceptor capable of aerial loitering, swarming, and repeated re-engagements.
- AD-2 Ambush is a solid-rocket – motor (SRM) missile for rapid intercepts, reaching Mach 2.5 and a range of 20km+.
Both systems receive mid-course guidance from Contra radar ground stations and feature an advanced onboard radar-seeker for all-weather terminal guidance. Both interceptors are container-launched.
Mass production will take place at Helsing’s Resilience Factories, with unit prices reportedly undercutting those of existing missile interceptors.
While AD-1 and AD-2 form an essential part of the Contra offering, the system is natively set up to integrate third-party hardware, such as other interceptors, cUAV lasers, cUAV guns or net-based systems.
The compant says that Contra reflects their cross-domain approach: using AI and software to draw high capability from affordable, mass-producible hardware. The result is autonomous fire dominance at scale that remains under human control.
