In a forested strip, two Ukrainian soldiers — a technician and an electrician — attach wings to a large black box. The kit is an HX-2 combat drone from the German manufacturer Helsing, equipped with artificial intelligence.
The billion-dollar startup from Bavaria is supplying thousands of these to the Ukrainian military, funded by the German government. Germany's armed forces have also recently awarded Helsing a multimillion-euro contract.
At the beginning of the year, critical reports about the drones appeared in Western media, including German outlets. They cited Ukrainian soldiers who reportedly identified technical issues during test deployments last year. According to a report by the newspaper Die Welt, many drones were not flight-ready or crashed shortly after takeoff. The hit rate was also said to be low. Its report quoted Ukrainian soldiers fighting at the front in eastern Ukraine.
The manufacturer, however, refuted these reports. "Members of the Ukrainian armed forces are testing the HX-2 drone together with Helsing staff at the front," a spokesperson told DW at the end of January. The first results of the tests, it said, were "encouraging."How Ukraine's drone pilots help hold front near PokrovskTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
