Helsing unveils Contra air defence system and two interceptors

Image of Helsing's Contra interceptors AD-1 Inferno and AD-2 Ambush provided by the company on 26 October 2026. (Helsing)

German defence company Helsing unveiled Contra, an AI-supported autonomous air defence system, on 26 October 2026. The company says it can simultaneously detect and engage hundreds or thousands of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and missiles.

Contra uses Helsing's Altra command-and-control (C2) software to combine radar, electro-optical, infrared and acoustic feeds and connect to Systematic's SitaWare and national battle management systems, according to Helsing. The company says it is designed to operate despite jamming, severed links and lost nodes.

Helsing is developing two radar-guided interceptors for Contra: the jet-powered AD-1 Inferno and solid-rocket-powered AD-2 Ambush.

According to Helsing, both are container-launched, receive mid-course guidance from Contra ground-based radar stations and use seekers built with commercial off-the-shelf components.

Helsing says AD-1 can loiter, swarm and re-engage targets, with an altitude exceeding 9,000 m, a range of at least 20 km and a speed exceeding 700 km/h.

AD-2 is designed to intercept one-way attack (OWA) UAVs and subsonic cruise missiles, with an altitude exceeding 9,000 m and a range exceeding 20 km, according to Helsing. A technical specification shown to Janes lists a maximum speed exceeding Mach 2; Helsing's press release gives Mach 2.5.

Helsing says Contra can integrate third-party interceptors, lasers, guns and net-based systems. Citing unnamed intelligence reports, it claims Russia produces up to 4,000 Geran-4 and Geran-5 OWA UAVs monthly and says Contra is designed to counter them. Helsing did not specify whether Contra had been tested against either type and had not responded to a request for clarification by the time of publication.