No Security Without Drones: Volatus Aerospace, Helsing, and Rheinmetall Under Review

Canada Drives a Special Economic Boom

Since the new Canadian defense strategy is already allocating around 70% of procurement contracts to domestic suppliers this year, Volatus is securing the necessary industrial base and operational expertise for NATO allies. This should provide a favorable starting point for international collaborations in the future. A clear opportunity is opening up for investors. Volatus Aerospace not only supplies the systems but also the critical infrastructure and training related to drones, making these technologies deployable on an industrial scale worldwide. We examine the market and potential partners from Germany.

Helsing: Artificial Intelligence as the Brain of Autonomous Swarms

The technology company Helsing has rapidly established itself as a leading provider of software-defined defense. In modern warfare, it is not enough to simply offer superior hardware. Rather, unmanned systems must be capable of processing vast amounts of data in milliseconds during operations and making autonomous decisions. Helsing provides precisely the artificial intelligence that is essential, for example, for controlling autonomous drone swarms. By deeply integrating AI into existing platforms, the company gives Western armed forces an advantage that can circumvent enemy jamming measures. This technological edge is reflected in Helsing’s order book—as evidenced by recently won billion-dollar contracts to upgrade European fighter jets and accompanying unmanned systems with AI. For the European defense architecture, Helsing has risen from a pure software supplier to an indispensable problem-solver.

Rheinmetall: Scaling Now Also for Drones

While Helsing excels with AI, the Düsseldorf-based defense conglomerate Rheinmetall delivers tangible solutions for the battlefield. The company is benefiting from the defense industry trend and the paradigm shift toward unmanned, responsive weapon systems. A key growth driver is so-called loitering munitions—intelligent kamikaze drones that circle over the target area, collect data, and can strike with precision when needed. According to recent media reports, Rheinmetall is currently ramping up production capacity for large orders of systems such as the FV-014 to meet the growing demand from NATO partners. To secure supply chains and achieve the necessary economies of scale, the company is investing billions in the expansion of new manufacturing facilities and recently reported a record order backlog of over EUR 38 billion. For conservative investors, Rheinmetall is a kind of core investment—the defense sector will continue to benefit from government demand for years to come. However, the stock is already expensive, and fragile supply chains remain a bottleneck for Rheinmetall.

Volatus Aerospace: The Bridge Builder in the Dual-Use Segment

Volatus Aerospace operates right at the intersection of civilian innovation and military solutions. The Canadian company leverages its deep expertise in commercial drone logistics and adapts it to the defense sector—a classic dual-use approach. The broader political landscape plays into Volatus’s hands: Canada’s new defense strategy mandates that approximately 70% of procurement contracts must be awarded to domestic suppliers to strengthen North America’s strategic autonomy. Volatus benefits directly from this government-mandated protectionism. The company not only supplies hardware free of Chinese components but also ensures operational readiness for NATO allies by establishing critical infrastructure and offering extensive training programs. Most recently, Volatus announced a training contract with a NATO country worth CAD 9.0 million. Thanks to the combination of in-house manufacturing and the management of complex drone missions, Volatus has secured an excellent position for future international defense cooperation.

Investment Opportunities in the Drone Supercycle

The market for unmanned systems has definitively evolved from a niche into one of the most important growth drivers in 2026. While investors remain sidelined from private tech unicorns like Helsing and established players such as Rheinmetall represent a more defensive investment with solid dividend characteristics, Volatus Aerospace offers a different profile. The company combines the dynamic growth of an emerging specialist with the relative stability of government-backed demand. This positioning is somewhat comparable to DroneShield a few years ago. For more speculative retail investors, Volatus Aerospace provides a form of leveraged exposure, as it covers the entire value chain, from production and integration of security systems to pilot training, positioning itself as a system integrator in a rapidly expanding market. Investors looking to gain early exposure to the drone megatrend may find this dual-use pioneer an intriguing opportunity.

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