CA-1 Europa: Helsing bets on AI track record to challenge loyal wingman rivals
September 26, 2025
Europe’s loyal wingman race has a new contender. German defence company Helsing has pulled the wraps off its CA-1 Europa, an uncrewed combat air vehicle designed to fight alongside manned fighters. In a field crowded with prototypes and promises, Helsing is leaning on its proven AI pedigree to set itself apart.
Helsing’s new CA-1 Europa loyal wingman drone
While the United States is ahead in developing next-generation AI-enabled drones, the Europeans are also working to develop their own. The German defence start-up company, Helsing, has revealed its own design for an uncrewed combat air vehicle, called the CA-1 Europa.
Helsing says its aircraft represents a “clean-slate approach to air dominance.”
Helsing is developing the aircraft with its subsidiary, Grob Aircraft, which it acquired in June 2025. Grob is a German aircraft manufacturer that makes a range of smaller aircraft, including gliders, trainers, and business aircraft.
Helsing claims the CA-1 Europa is “tailored to the requirements of intelligent mass” and that the aircraft is mass-produceable and affordable. It is engineered for fully autonomous operations in contested and even denied environments. The first flight is planned for 2027.
European defense manufacturer Helsing presented the CA-1 Europa, a UCAV reportedly capable of performing a range of missions, including deep precision strike.
— Fabian Hoffmann (@FRHoffmann1) September 25, 2025
First test flight expected in 2027. pic.twitter.com/h4IooRhaq3
Outwardly, the new aircraft bears a striking resemblance to the Australian-designed MQ-28 Ghost Bat, developed by Boeing Australia. The Ghost Bat is undergoing flight testing and is slated to become the first loyal wingman drone for the Australian Air Force. Boeing recently welcomed Saab into the Ghost Bat program.
Helsing, the first to fly an AI-powered Saab Gripen
Helsing says the new CA-1 Europa drone is in the three-to-five ton class and uses Centaur AI software. Helsing is a leader in AI aviation systems in Europe and is focused on leveraging Europe’s supply chains.
Helsing’s Centaur AI software also set new records when it flew a Saab Gripen E fighter jet for the first time. On the 11th of June, 2025, Helsing and Saab announced the successful integration and flight testing of Centaur for autonomous air combat.
The flights took place in May and June, less than six months from conception. The tests focused on Centaur’s Beyond-Visual-Range air combat capabilities. It was able to engage adversaries and evade threats.
Autonomous AI-agent fly BVR-combat on #Gripen E
— Gripen News (@GripenNews) June 11, 2025
"Saab, in collaboration with Helsing, today announced the successful completion of the first three flights integrating Helsing’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) agent ‘Centaur’ into a Gripen E"
Source: https://t.co/wyVPdu4vE6 pic.twitter.com/x1HiKl4p0h
Helsing hailed the test flight as a pioneering step in autonomous air combat and “a turning point” for the future of European defence. The US Air Force has been carrying out autonomous combat test flights for some time and is considered well ahead of the Europeans.
Europe’s crowded field of loyal wingman drones
While no loyal wingman drones or high-end combat drones are currently in service in Europe, the field is quickly becoming crowded with rival programs of varying capabilities.
In mid-2024, Airbus unveiled its Wingman concept at the International Aerospace Exhibition ILA in Berlin. Indeed, Helsing is tipped to be providing the AI input for Airbus’ future Wingman system.
Meanwhile, France’s Dassault is known to be working on developing a loyal wingman drone for the country’s Rafale fighter jets. Australia’s Ghost Bat is also looking for European customers.
In 2025, a flurry of announcements saw US companies announce plans to produce versions of their aircraft in Europe that they have developed for the US Air Force’s CCA program.
In July, Airbus announced an agreement to build a version of the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie drone using Airbus’s internal systems. Around the same time, General Atomics announced it would build its YFQ-42A aircraft in Germany. This followed a similar announcement by Anduril that it would also build its Fury in Germany.
The future of #airpower.
— General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc (GA-ASI) (@GenAtomics_ASI) September 12, 2025
YFQ-42A collaborative combat aircraft provides fighter capacity at an affordable cost and on a threat-relevant timeline.
Read more: https://t.co/vpbPld8gze#YFQ42A #FighterFriday pic.twitter.com/9lOlYQVYJv
In August 2025, Baykar announced that the large Kızılelma drone is entering serial production. That drone is considered a candidate for the sixth-generation GCAP fighter jet currently being developed in the UK, with Italy and Japan.
Most recently, Lockheed Martin unveiled a higher-end loyal wingman drone called Vectis. Lockheed lost the bid for the CCA program in 2024, but is choosing to develop it anyway, hoping the US will buy it and/or it will attract export orders.
While the market is crowded, Helsing brings a proven track record in autonomy that most rivals still only talk about. If the CA-1 Europa reaches first flight in 2027 as planned, it could give Europe its first combat drone shaped as much by software as by airframe.
