German drone maker Helsing has enlisted Japanese e-commerce and finance firm Rakuten to help finalize a deal to sell its unmanned systems to Japan\u2019s army, a spokesperson for Rakuten said on Monday.<\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Ground Self-Defense Forces are currently testing Helsing\u2019s HX-2 strike drone, as Tokyo looks to modernize its military and counter an increasingly assertive China. The field tests will run until the end of September, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Helsing struck an \u201cinitial agreement\u201d for the Japanese government to use its systems earlier this year, a spokesperson for the Munich-based company said, adding that the move was made possible by an unnamed \u201clocal brokerage partner.\u201d <\/p>\n
Japan\u2019s Ground Self-Defence Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment. <\/p>\n
Rakuten\u2019s involvement with Helsing was first reported by Japan\u2019s Nikkei newspaper. While the Tokyo-based conglomerate has limited defense experience, it is aiming to help more startups break into Japan\u2019s defense industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cEncouraging greater participation for startups in Japan\u2019s defense industry presents an important opportunity to strengthen the country\u2019s defense capabilities,\u201d Hideaki Mukai, chief of staff to Rakuten\u2019s CEO, said in a statement to Reuters. \u201cStartups often face significant structural barriers, including complex procurement systems, difficulties communicating with government agencies and challenging procurement cycles.<\/p>\n
\u201cRakuten hopes to help bridge these gaps by leveraging our experience and capabilities to connect startups and cutting-edge technologies with the needs of government agencies, further driving innovation and development in Japan\u2019s defense industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
GLOBAL DEFENSE FIRMS EYE JAPAN <\/p>\n
A military spending splurge by Japan, along with its easing of arms-export rules earlier this year, has sparked strong interest from overseas defense firms looking for local partners to break into a potentially lucrative new market.<\/p>\n
Rakuten helped U.S.-listed Ukrainian drone software maker Swarmer organize a demonstration of its technology for a unit of Japan\u2019s military earlier this year, Reuters previously reported.<\/p>\n
The late-April test involved using its AI software to coordinate a swarm of drones \u200bin a seek-and-hit mission in Japan.<\/p>\n
Rakuten\u2019s billionaire founder Hiroshi \u201cMickey\u201d Mikitani has been among Japan\u2019s most vocal supporters of Ukraine, and his firm has also helped other Ukrainian defense firms exhibit their products at arms fairs in Japan.<\/p>\n
Founded in 2021, Helsing initially focused on artificial intelligence software \u200bdesigned to help analyze battlefield data \u200bbefore \u2060expanding into autonomous strike drones, underwater surveillance systems and military aircraft applications.<\/p>\n
It has secured contracts \u2060with \u200bEuropean governments and defense \u200bcompanies, while supplying drones for Ukraine backed by German government \u200bfunding. The Munich-based firm raised $1.8 billion in a funding round in July, cementing its position as the continent\u2019s best-funded defense technology startup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"German drone maker Helsing has enlisted Japanese e-commerce and finance firm Rakuten to help finalize a deal to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3779,1955,634,14,636,627,4194,92,129,24,4193],"class_list":["post-6948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-asia-brief","tag-bundeswehr","tag-circulated-defense-news","tag-defence-industry","tag-defense-news","tag-dn-dnr","tag-europe-brief","tag-germany","tag-helsing","tag-japan","tag-rakuten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}