Helsing is working on Project ASGARD to multiply the British Army’s fighting power. The Project ASGARD aims to deliver a substantial increase in battlefield lethality by integrating artificial intelligence, autonomy, and digital connectivity across operational systems. Altra’s targeting software is being combined with the HX-2 strike drone to deliver affordable precision mass. Ukraine, the UK and allies have now proven the impact of closer industry partnership and inserting AI at every stage of recce-strike systems. The system enables forces to identify and strike targets at greater distances and in reduced timeframes, forming part of the UK’s wider plan to establish a digital targeting network across the Armed Forces by 2027.
Chief of the General Staff, General Sir Roly Walker said:“Project Asgard proves we can do things differently. It’s not just a pathfinder for transformation; it’s a transformation in how we find, fund, and fight with cutting-edge capabilities. Asgard helps double our lethality and exponentially reduces the time to see, decide, and strike. What took hours, now takes minutes. Today, the UK possesses a similar Recce-Strike system to the one used by Ukraine to maul Russian forces in the Donbas. That system now sits at the heart of our Forward Land Forces in Estonia. We are particularly proud of the collaboration between tacticians and technicians, between Defence and Industry, and the support of and to small and medium enterprises and jobs across the UK.”
The modern battlefield is highly complex. All forms of protection must be considered, including high mobility to be unpredictable, camouflage to hide, decoys to deceive, electronic warfare to combat cyber threats and air defence to counter drones. To fight future wars, the British Army and its NATO Allies must be able to see further and strike further. This is called ‘recce-strike’ and means that soldiers can destroy enemies far beyond the horizon, long before seeing the whites of their eyes. Asgard is designed to optimise recce-strike. Ukraine has shown NATO that to fight future wars, armies need to rely as much as possible on drones, robots and other autonomous systems. A prototype Asgard capability was deployed on NATO’s Exercise Hedgehog in Estonia in May this year with British Army troops.
