Helsing partners with Rakuten to enter Japan’s defence market

Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Forces are currently field-testing a compact, AI-guided strike drone called the HX-2, with trials scheduled to run through the end of September. Behind that deployment sits an unusual alliance: Helsing, Europe’s most heavily funded defence-AI startup, has teamed up with Rakuten, the Japanese conglomerate synonymous with online shopping and mobile services, to navigate one of the world’s most complicated weapons markets.

The Munich-based company, founded in 2021, has quickly become a cornerstone of Europe’s rearmament push. It has raised billions this year, ranks among the continent’s most valuable private technology firms, and serves as a primary drone supplier to Ukraine with backing from Berlin. Its core thesis, that modern combat is decided by software and autonomy rather than raw hardware, has positioned it as Europe’s boldest bet on AI-driven warfare.

Helsing’s product line extends well beyond the HX-2. The company also sells AI software for battlefield analysis, underwater surveillance, and combat aircraft, a software-first arsenal that has made it a poster child for the continent’s defence renaissance. Now it is expanding into Asia, and Rakuten is acting as its guide through Japan’s notoriously opaque procurement system.

This is not Rakuten’s first foray into defence matchmaking. The conglomerate previously helped Swarmer, a Ukrainian drone-software firm, showcase its technology to Japanese military units. In a market where paperwork can be as formidable as competition, having a trusted local name opens doors that might otherwise remain shut.

The timing is no accident. Japan is undergoing its largest military build-up in decades, spurred by an increasingly assertive China and a war in Ukraine that has upended long-held assumptions about drones. Earlier this year, Tokyo eased its longstanding arms-export and procurement restrictions, throwing open a market that foreign weapons-makers could barely touch before. With defence spending committed to rise toward postwar highs, every yen is a magnet for the kind of autonomous, software-led equipment the Ukraine conflict has made fashionable.

Helsing is far from alone in circling this opportunity. The defence boom has spread well beyond traditional prime contractors, pulling in financiers, cloud providers, and consumer-tech names eager for a share of government money. Across Europe and Asia, capital and engineering talent are flooding into ventures that promise an edge on the modern battlefield.

Still, Helsing’s reputation is not without blemishes. Earlier this year, Ukraine paused further orders of the HX-2 after technical problems emerged in the field, a stark reminder that the gap between an impressive AI demonstration and a reliable combat weapon can be wide. Japan’s own trials, with roughly a month remaining, will be scrutinised for exactly that reason.

The push into Japan fits a broader expansion strategy. Helsing is developing an AI submarine, has formed an alliance with Mistral on military AI applications, and is positioning itself as a pillar of Europe’s urgent rearmament efforts. Moving into Asia extends that ambition well beyond NATO’s borders, quietly transforming a European champion into a would-be global arms supplier.

Whether the Rakuten partnership turns trials into contracts remains uncertain. Japan is a cautious buyer with a long memory when it comes to procurement. But the simple fact that a European AI startup barely five years old is testing strike drones for the Japanese army, with an e-commerce giant as its fixer, captures how rapidly the business of war is being remade, and how eagerly its new players are rushing in.