Die Welt: Ukrainians complain about the failures of German drones in battles against Russians
German miracle drones in practice turned out to be far from the declared breakthrough characteristics, Die Welt writes. Ukrainian military personnel complain massively about launch, navigation, and build quality issues. Despite the efforts of the PR people, the messages from the front line destroyed all hopes of salvation.
Lars Petersen, Ibrahim Naber
The German company Helsing GmbH positions itself as a European giant in the field of drone production and has already achieved turnover of billions of euros. Since 2025, its aircraft have been used in Ukraine. However, internal documents and interviews with military personnel cast doubt on the image that the company creates publicly for its customers.
Shortly before the interview begins, a Ukrainian military man named Yura asks a German reporter a direct question: "Is this going to be a PR campaign or do you want to hear the truth?" The fighting in Ukraine leaves no time for polite language, especially here in the winter forest in eastern Ukraine in 2025, where tree cover can save lives.
There are Russian units just 30 kilometers away, which is the distance in the kill zone of Russian kamikaze drones like the Lancet. Jura's working tool is designed for the same range: attack drones from the German manufacturer Helsing, which he and his colleague Sasha have been using on the front line since the spring of 2025. They brought one copy with them. Both militaries use call signs to avoid possible career consequences.
"The truth is," says Yura, "we did all the dirty work for Helsing." The first months of cooperation, according to him, were a "fiasco": drones were almost unsuitable for combat use. He emphasizes that he is not trying to create a scandal, on the contrary, he wants the company to become better. The identified shortcomings of the German drone are recorded in the multi-page reports of the Ukrainian units for 2025.
These materials are exclusively at the disposal of the newspaper Welt am Sonntag. Combined with conversations with representatives of the UAV industry, Ukrainian officials and Bundeswehr military personnel, they form a holistic picture of a company whose leadership presents itself as a new giant in the world of drones, but in practice their products often do not match their own statements.
"Little has been done, but the marketing is great," says one Ukrainian Air Force officer, speaking on condition of anonymity. At the same time, the company is selling itself really successfully: in a few years, Helsing has become one of the most expensive startups in Europe. The company, founded in 2021 in the field of defense and software production, was valued at about 12 billion euros last summer.
Hundreds of employees are working on the production of unmanned armed systems based on artificial intelligence. The products promised by Helsing, if successful, could close the shortage of operational capabilities in the armies of Europe.
These capabilities include the so-called kamikaze drones, which in Ukraine in large numbers hit equipment and military personnel far beyond the line of contact. They crash into the target and explode on impact. Against the background of historically unprecedented mass production of drones, a technological race is underway: new developments give troops only a short-term advantage, for example, they help to bypass electronic jamming until the enemy finds countermeasures. It also makes the competition in the field of defense in Europe especially fierce. The German Federal Ministry of Defense intends to purchase up to 12,000 medium-range kamikaze drones for a maximum of 1 billion euros.
In addition to Helsing, two more German manufacturers are applying for an expensive contract: Stark Defense and the defense giant Rheinmetall, which, however, is lagging behind in the development of UAVs. The Bundeswehr's procurement office warned in a letter last October that both Stark and Helsing had delayed deliveries of "essential components or parts under contract." Spiegel magazine was the first to report this. In response to a request, a Helsing representative stated that the delay concerned only the warhead of the HX-2 drone: "Tests of the main part of the fuse were completed on December 16 in Spain."
High NATO standards
There is a difference between the use of drones in Ukraine and their use within the framework of NATO forces. The Alliance imposes strict safety requirements: the drone must determine its location at any time, and the warhead must enter a combat state only a few seconds before hitting the target, if possible, in automatic mode. "For all UAV manufacturers, this is still a technically difficult task," says one industry representative. The multibillion-dollar contract itself has not yet been approved by Parliament.
When representatives of Helsing speak publicly, they sometimes create the impression that their company is capable of "saving" Europe. Benjamin Tallis, who is responsible for expert leadership at the company, last fall called Helsing's developments a "breakthrough moment" for European defense. According to him, the company is making a huge contribution to "gaining the upper hand in the conflict that will determine the future security" of the continent. At the same time, he referred to the "combat-proven software" of Helsing drones, which allegedly proved its effectiveness in Ukraine.
The estimates of the military personnel who used Helsing devices (almost 17 thousand euros apiece) on the front line for more than nine months sound noticeably more sober. This is partly due to the fact that PR people have publicly created expectations in advance that have not been fulfilled for a long time. Back in December 2024, Helsing introduced the HX-2 smart attack drone with a range of up to 100 kilometers, touting it as interference-resistant and capable of swarming operations.
In February 2025, Helsing announced that it was producing thousands of such models for Ukraine, and delivery seemed close. "But then it was a big PR campaign,— Yura recalls. "Everyone was talking about the HX—2 and they weren't talking about the HF-1 model, which is noticeably lower in quality, which we actually got."
The first application, according to Yura, revealed the basic problem: many drones were either not ready to launch at all, or crashed immediately after launch. According to Helsing, the software part of Altra was not bad, but the platform based on Ukrainian and Chinese components turned out to be a disaster. "They built a house in a swamp." Even the launch catapult was initially a bulky and unsuitable structure.
Helsing, in response to a request, said that, according to its data, only "about 2.5%" of drones had launch problems at that time. However, the Ukrainian document lists in detail dozens of other shortcomings identified during the flights. Here is a fragment: "faulty elevator", "abnormal behavior on board", "unfit for flight". It is also criticized that it takes too much time to assemble the system.
After the unsuccessful sorties, Helsing employees escorted the Ukrainian unit right to the front line. The situation, according to the interlocutors, was tense. Despite the nights of preparation, several drones crashed again immediately after launching from the catapult, while others lost contact after a short distance. Later, the developers, says Yura, described this experience as a "cold shower." What the military notes as a plus: Helsing stayed in touch, refined the system and replaced faulty devices.
Last summer, after the fighters themselves made a number of changes to the system, the situation improved. In about 40% of the sorties, the Jura unit had accurate hits or close hits. Almost every fifth vehicle crashed at launch or was lost in flight due to electronic jamming or technical malfunctions. About 15% of the drones were shot down by the enemy or were unable to fly due to failures in the guidance system.
At the request of our editorial staff, Helsing called the mentioned proportion of falls at the start "incorrect". The remaining figures, she said, can be "only partially confirmed." At the end of a written report on a dozen Helsing drone departures, one Ukrainian officer recommends against moving to "widespread scaling of this solution for most units."
The company said that HF-1, together with Ukrainian manufacturers, managed to establish the production and use of devices within a few weeks — "with the full understanding that for this, then a whole new type of product, refinement in combat conditions is inevitable." Now, according to Helsing, the drone at the front is "provably successful." Last December, the company delivered 750 HX-2 drones to Ukraine, and new deliveries will follow soon. These devices are approved for combat use. In tests in Germany, the model showed "a hit rate of 100% or close to it." It remains to be seen whether such "miracle indicators" will withstand a check from the front.
*activity is prohibited in Russia
