Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force is testing the German company’s HX-2 until the end of September, but no purchase has been announced and the agreement with Rakuten remains an effort to secure a future sale.

German defence-technology company Helsing has appointed Rakuten as its intermediary in Japan while the country’s Ground Self-Defence Force tests the HX-2 strike drone.

Rakuten and Helsing confirmed the Japanese group’s role in statements to Reuters on 17 August. Military trials are scheduled to continue until the end of September.

The development moves Helsing’s Japanese campaign beyond an initial agreement announced earlier in the year. It identifies the local partner responsible for helping navigate the market and confirms that the hardware is undergoing evaluation by the army.

Japan has not bought the HX-2. The Ground Self-Defence Force did not immediately comment on the test programme, and neither company announced an order value, quantity or delivery schedule.

A local partner for a difficult market

Rakuten is best known for e-commerce, telecommunications and digital services rather than as a traditional weapons prime contractor. Its involvement demonstrates that access to Japan’s expanding defence market can depend on commercial networks outside the established heavy-industrial groups.

A domestic intermediary can assist with language, regulation, government relationships, contracting practice and the support arrangements required after a sale. Those functions are particularly important for a European start-up without a long-established Japanese industrial presence.

Rakuten’s appointment does not remove the need for an operational case. The GSDF will need to assess whether the HX-2 can perform reliably in the terrain, weather, communications environment and command structure in which Japan expects to use it.

Testing may examine range, accuracy, resistance to electronic interference, ease of deployment, safety and integration with existing reconnaissance and targeting systems. The results have not been released.

Japan is buying at greater speed and scale

Tokyo’s rapid increase in defence spending is creating a large market for strike, reconnaissance and unmanned systems. The government is seeking capabilities that can complicate an adversary’s operations across Japan’s dispersed islands and surrounding maritime approaches.

That demand creates an opportunity for European defence-technology companies, but it also exposes them to competition from Japanese, American, Israeli and other suppliers.

For Helsing, a sale would be important beyond the immediate contract. A successful GSDF evaluation could provide a reference customer in the Indo-Pacific and demonstrate that a European software-led company can export a complete strike system into a demanding allied market.

For Japan, purchasing from a start-up could accelerate access to new technology. It would also require confidence in production scale, maintenance, software support, secure data handling and the supplier’s ability to remain available through the system’s service life.

Questions about industrial participation will therefore matter alongside performance. Japanese procurement often places weight on local support and supply resilience, and future negotiations may address assembly, component sourcing, training and technology transfer.

Defence Matters has examined the wider rise of European autonomous and collaborative systems in its coverage of Europe’s defence future and wingman aircraft. The Helsing trial brings the export dimension into focus.

The next decision point comes after testing ends. Until Japan selects a system and signs a contract, the HX-2 remains a candidate in an active evaluation rather than a new GSDF acquisition.