德国科隆 —— 德国公司 Helsing 的高管周一表示，该公司正推出一对新型防空导弹，以及用于组织拦截所需的 AI 软件，可在每发成本低于 10 万美元的情况下击落快速攻击无人机。
COLOGNE, Germany — Germany’s Helsing is offering a novel pair of air-defense missiles, plus the requisite AI software to organize intercepts, for downing fast attack drones for under $100,000 per shot, company officials said on Monday.
这套名为“Contra”的产品目前正处于测试阶段，但预计将于 2027 年下半年达到可上市状态，Helsing 首席执行官 Gundbert Scherf 在产品发布会上对记者表示。
The offering, which goes by the name of Contra, is in testing for now but is expected to reach market readiness in the second half of 2027, Helsing CEO Gundbert Scherf told reporters during a product presentation.
Helsing 的这套系统是全球市场上几款新产品之一，它们承诺解决防空领域的一个根本问题：即用数百万美元一发的拦截弹去打击成本仅为其零头的无人机，从长远来看是一笔亏本买卖。
Helsing’s suite is one of several newcomers on the global market that promise to solve the fundamental problem of the air defense discipline: Namely, that firing multimillion-dollar interceptors at drones costing a fraction of that amount is a losing proposition in the long run.
该产品发布之际，欧洲各国政府渴望采购本土装备，担心在伊朗战争后，像“爱国者”这类美制系统将变得越来越难以让盟友获得。
The product launch comes as European governments are eager to buy local equipment, fearing U.S.-made systems like the Patriot will become increasingly difficult for allies to obtain after the Iran war.
Scherf 表示，公司工程师开发了由喷气发动机驱动的 AD-1 拦截导弹，代号“Inferno”（地狱火），以及由固体火箭发动机推进的 AD-2，代号“Ambush”（伏击），用于击落表现越来越像巡航导弹的新一代攻击无人机。
Company engineers have developed the AD-1 interceptor missile, named “Inferno” and powered by a jet engine, and the solid rocket motor-propelled AD-2, or “Ambush,” to bring down a new generation of attack drones that behave increasingly like cruise missiles, Scherf said.
他表示，拦截弹动力系统和制导技术的选择，是针对俄罗斯向乌克兰城市发射的攻击无人机观察到的演变做出的直接回应。
The choice of propulsion systems and seeker technology on the interceptors is a direct response to the observed evolution of Russian strike drones unleashed on Ukrainian cities, he said.
莫斯科的“Geran”无人机 —— 基于伊朗“Shahed”设计 —— 最初采用螺旋桨动力且速度较慢，使乌克兰防空部队实现了 90% 的拦截率。然而据 Scherf 称，近几个月来，俄罗斯开始生产并部署数千架“Geran-4”和“Geran-5”无人机，飞行速度可达每小时 400 至 700 公里，导致近一半武器突防并击中预定目标。
Moscow’s Geran drones — based on the Iranian Shahed design — were initially propeller-based and slow, leading Ukrainian air defenders to achieve intercept rates of 90%. In recent months, however, Russia has begun producing and fielding thousands of Geran-4 and Geran-5 drones, which can fly at 400-700 kilometers per hour, causing almost half of the weapons to slip through and reach their intended targets, according to Scherf.
Helsing 推出的两款新型拦截弹旨在相互配合：其中“地狱火”导弹飞行速度为 700 公里/小时、射程 20 公里，被设想为除最复杂威胁以外所有威胁的常规对抗手段。
Helsing’s two new interceptor types are meant to complement each other, with the Inferno missile — flying at 700 km/h at a range of 20 kilometers — envisioned as the bread-and-butter countermeasure against all but the most sophisticated threats.
Helsing 高级产品总监 Maxwell Adams 表示，“伏击”拦截弹速度超过 2 倍音速，即近 3000 公里/小时，设计用于在最后关头快速接近所谓的“漏网之鱼”，指即将撞击地面的威胁。
The Ambush, with its speed of more than twice the speed of sound, or almost 3,000 km/h, was designed to close quickly on so-called “leakers” as a last-ditch effort, a reference to threats about to make impact on the ground, said Maxwell Adams, senior product director at Helsing.
Adams 称，Contra 系统所宣称的可大规模生产的一个关键特性，在于这两款新型拦截弹的有源雷达制导头设计。公司高管表示，这些部件采用广泛可得的硬件制造，使潜在买家无需担心涉及中国的供应链或美国出口管制。
Adams said one key feature of the advertised mass-producibility of the Contra system lies in the design of the active radar seekers for the two new interceptors. Those components are made with widely available hardware, leaving prospective buyers free of any worries around Chinese-tinged supply chains or U.S. export controls, company executives said.
在周一的产品发布会上，通过计算机动画演示了一个 Contra 使用场景：设想 20 枚“地狱火”和 40 枚“伏击”拦截弹从标准尺寸集装箱中发射，拦截一群来袭无人机，拦截顺序和距离由公司的人工智能套件自动计算。
One Contra employment scenario, illustrated via a computer animation at the Monday product launch, envisions 20 Inferno and 40 Ambush interceptors streaking out of standard-sized shipping containers to bring down a swarm of incoming drones, with the order and distance of intercepts calculated automatically by the company’s artificial intelligence suite.
虽然该系统将在明年被视为可供销售，但 Scherf 表示已签署了一份合同。
While the system will be deemed ready for sales next year, Scherf said one contract for it was already signed.