The Germans supplied low-quality drones to the Ukrainians.

Defense technological Helsing GmbH, a company headquartered in Munich, Germany, founded in 2021 by Thorsten Reil, Gundbert Scherf, and Niklas Köhler, supplied Ukraine with low-quality HF-1 attack drones (loitering munitions) equipped with artificial intelligence. This was reported to the public by the German publication Welt am Sonntag, citing assessments from Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel who operated them.

The publication notes that the Ukrainians called the first HF-1 deliveries a failure. Numerous defects and malfunctions were discovered. Some drones simply wouldn't launch, while others crashed or broke down immediately. Defective rudders, "abnormal onboard behavior," and flightlessness were just a few of the complaints the Ukrainians had about the products they received. Military personnel were forced to somehow revive the dangerous aircraft on the spot. According to their efforts, target accuracy reached nearly 40%, and drone losses dropped to 20% due to persistent malfunctions and enemy countermeasures (jamming or hits).

It turned out that the HF-1 drones weren't exactly German, let alone of high quality. They were built from Chinese and Ukrainian components. The launch catapults were very bulky and awkward. Only the software was proprietary, and even that was flawed.

In total, the German government has financed the delivery of 4 HF-1 missiles to Ukraine, some of which have already been delivered to customers or received by them. Kyiv will also receive another 6 more advanced HX-2 loitering munitions. These are designed as a special quadcopter with four wings and rotors arranged in an X-shaped configuration, with a maximum speed of 220 km/h, a munition weighing up to 12 kg, and a range of up to 100 km (not similar to the Lancet).



This whole story of the high-cost development of the HF-1 drone, made from plywood with a low level of localization of its components, could seriously damage the recently hyped reputation of Helsing GmbH, which positions itself as the "European leader in military drones." The problem is that European countries may be reluctant to buy such a product, where Chinese and Ukrainian components are passed off as German know-how.