Rakuten Group, the Tokyo based online retail and technology conglomerate, has stepped into an unfamiliar role as a broker between a German defense startup and the Japanese government, helping arrange military drone trials that reflect Tokyo's push to modernize its armed forces.
The company served as the point of contact connecting Munich based Helsing with Japan's Ground Self Defense Force, which has begun field testing Helsing's HX-2 strike drone. The trials are expected to run through the end of September.
A Drone Built for Contested Environments
Helsing markets the HX-2 as a strike drone capable of locating and identifying targets even without a continuous data connection, a feature designed for environments where communications links can be jammed or disrupted. The company has built its reputation supplying military software and attack drones since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and it has become one of Europe's most closely watched defense technology firms as a result.
Helsing was founded in 2021 and has grown quickly alongside rising defense spending across Europe. Last month, Goldman Sachs backed the company at a valuation of 18 billion dollars, underscoring investor appetite for firms building software driven weapons systems.
Japan Looks to Modernize Amid Regional Tensions
The trials come as Japan works to modernize its military capabilities and counter an increasingly assertive China in the region. Bringing in Rakuten as an intermediary marks an unusual move for a company best known for e commerce, mobile carriers, and fintech, and it signals how far Tokyo is willing to reach to secure access to cutting edge defense technology developed abroad.
Neither Rakuten nor Helsing have detailed the commercial terms of the arrangement, and it remains unclear whether the field tests will lead to a formal procurement contract. For now, the drone trials stand as an early test of whether Japan's defense establishment is ready to adopt AI driven weapons systems built by a fast growing European startup.
