Helsing HF-1
Helsing's first combat drone — a plywood-framed, AI-guided loitering munition co-produced in Ukraine. It launched badly enough that Kyiv stopped ordering, then improved enough to hit better than half its targets around Pokrovsk.
The Helsing HF-1 is a plywood-bodied strike drone whose Ukrainian operators described selecting targets manually before autonomous terminal guidance, according to Militarnyi.
Overview
The HF-1 is a plywood-bodied strike drone used by Ukrainian Special Operations Forces, according to Militarnyi. Operators described a preferred operating distance of 45–50 km, approximately 100 km flight range and about one hour airborne in the publication’s April 2025 account. They said crews manually guided the drone to a previously identified target, selected it, and then used autonomous terminal guidance.
Helsing said software already operating and being developed on HF-1 in Ukraine was reused on the HX-2, according to Hartpunkt’s July 2025 briefing account. The German Federal Government documented a 4,000-unit commitment, with 1,050 delivered and 2,950 in planning or execution as of 17 April 2025. Business Insider reported early reliability problems followed by summer 2025 improvements in one eastern Ukrainian unit; separately, Oleksandr Karpyuk told DW that HF-1 improved after feedback and subsequently hit more than 50% of targets in his unit’s Pokrovsk sector.
An HF-1 contract transition to the HX-2 was described in a November 2025 internal German ministry presentation, according to TVP World’s January 2026 account of Bloomberg’s investigation. The presentation reported that about 40% of delivered HF-1s remained unused in Ukrainian inventory and alleged missing AI components. TVP World also reported that Helsing rejected many findings and said the transition had been planned from the outset; a ministry spokeswoman said leadership had neither reviewed nor approved the presentation.
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