Rheinmetall and Helsing, a European provider of software and AI for defence systems, have announced a strategic partnership to transform land defence capabilities. Through the joint development of software-based defence systems and retrofitting of existing platforms, this partnership will provide the armed forces with advanced and future-proof capabilities, enabling them to meet current and future challenges.
The unprovoked attack on Ukraine has forced Europe into a new era of land-based warfare. With the return of peer-to-peer conflicts and the emergence of novel, digital capabilities on the battlefield Europe must modernise its armies at speed. One of the key lessons of the Russo-Ukrainian War is that digitisation and AI-supported mission systems can give armies a meaningful edge on the battlefield. They are destined to play a key role in defensive operations.
The Rheinmetall/Helsing partnership combines world-leading, battle-tested components, platforms, systems and software with modern, military-grade AI capabilities in order to deter and, if necessary, successfully take on an adversary. By investing in technology development upfront and delivering new products at speed, this partnership will provide the armed forces with fast access to the latest technological innovations.
“Rheinmetall has been supplying advanced networked products, systems, software and technologies in the defence and security realm for many decades, for which we are very grateful. Our partnership with Helsing will further augment our capabilities in the field of artificial intelligence, enabling us to equip our products with the latest technologies faster than ever. This lets us modernise legacy platforms and systems, providing our customers with new, world-leading capabilities”, states Christoph Müller, CEO of Rheinmetall Electronic Solutions.
Dr Gundbert Scherf, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Helsing adds: “Helsing is a new type of defence company, focused purely on software and AI, funding our own product development. We are therefore delighted to partner with Rheinmetall and combine our advanced AI capabilities with their world-leading land platforms. Recent geopolitical events have shown that democracies need to be able to protect and deter. But democracies also need to out-innovate and out-pace autocratic regimes. We believe this partnership has the potential to do that, equipping land forces for the future at pace.”
