Rakuten Helps Helsing Pitch HX-2 Strike Drone to Japan
Japanese e-commerce group Rakuten is assisting German defense technology company Helsing in its pursuit of a sale of its HX-2 strike drone to Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) is conducting field tests of the HX-2 strike drone, an electrically propelled x-wing loitering munition, until the end of September 2026. The drone, developed by German defense technology company Helsing, has a stated range of up to 100 kilometers and a weight of 12 kilograms.
The HX-2 is offered with multipurpose, anti-tank and anti-structure payloads, and features onboard artificial intelligence that allows it to search for, re-identify and engage targets without a continuous communications link. This gives the drone resistance to jamming, with a human operator in or on the loop for all critical decisions.
Multiple HX-2s can be networked through Helsing's Altra reconnaissance-strike platform. The company has run military-led trials of the system in four European countries and supplies HX-2 drones to Ukraine under German government funding.
## HX-2 Specifications
| Feature | Value | | --- | --- | | Range | Up to 100 kilometers | | Weight | 12 kilograms | | Payloads | Multipurpose, anti-tank, anti-structure |
Helsing has reached an "initial agreement" with the Japanese authorities, crediting an unnamed local brokerage partner with making it possible. Rakuten, a Japanese e-commerce and financial services group, is helping Helsing navigate the Japanese market.
Rakuten has little conventional defense experience, making its role as an intermediary between a European strike-drone manufacturer and Japan's armed forces unusual. The company intends to use its network to connect those companies with Japanese government requirements.
## Rakuten's Defense Procurement Role
Rakuten has helped organize an April 2026 demonstration for a Japanese military unit by Swarmer, a US-listed Ukrainian drone-autonomy software company. The demonstration showcased Swarmer's software coordinating several aircraft in a seek-and-hit mission.
Rakuten's CEO, Hiroshi Mikitani, has been among Japan's most prominent corporate supporters of Ukraine. The group backed the Ukrainian government defense cluster Brave1 at DSEI Japan in May 2025.
## Japan's Unmanned Buildup
Japan's FY2026 defense budget totals JPY 9.04 trillion, with roughly JPY 100.1 billion going to the Synchronized, Hybrid, Integrated and Enhanced Littoral Defense initiative, or SHIELD. SHIELD is a layered coastal architecture built around large numbers of unmanned systems to counter forces approaching Japan's remote islands.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense has not publicly linked the current evaluation of the HX-2 to the SHIELD program. However, the HX-2 fits into a category of small expendable attack UAVs for the JGSDF.
