Helsing’s AI agent Centaur successfully tested on Saab Gripen E fighter

During the flights, the Gripen E handed over control to Centaur, which executed complex beyond-visual-range (BVR) combat manoeuvres and issued fire commands against another human-piloted Gripen aircraft. A safety pilot was present onboard to assume control if needed.

Helsing’s AI agent used onboard sensor data to continuously assess, plan, and manoeuvre during the engagements, demonstrating its ability to engage adversaries and evade threats. The flights marked a key milestone in human-machine teaming, bringing advanced reinforcement learning into real-world air combat scenarios.

Stephanie Lingemann, Senior Director Air Domain at Helsing, said: “These test flights mark a pioneering step in autonomous air combat and a turning point for the future of European defence. We are proud to achieve this milestone with our strategic partner Saab – fusing advanced AI capabilities with Gripen’s state-of-the-art software architecture in record time.”

Antoine Bordes, Vice President Artificial Intelligence at Helsing, added: “Helsing’s Centaur technology brings reinforcement learning to air combat for unprecedented performance and unlocks a new era for human-machine collaboration. Trained at massive scale in Helsing’s RL-Factory, Centaur acquires decades of virtual air combat experience in as little as 24 hours – creating mission-ready AI systems that can handle the real-world dynamics of warfare, as proven by its integration on Saab’s Gripen E.”

Test pilot and Chief Innovation Officer at Saab, Marcus Wandt, who flew with Centaur, stated: “This is the future of air combat happening right now, in Europe. It took us less than half a year to go from defining the operational scenario, through configuring software interfaces and training, integrating, testing the agent, to lift off and test flight.”

The rapid integration was enabled by the modern software-defined architecture of the Gripen E, Saab’s latest fighter aircraft system designed to face advanced threats. The aircraft’s flexible digital framework allows for quick software deployment, making it an ideal platform for Centaur.

The ongoing collaboration between Helsing and Saab will continue to develop more complex cooperative mission capabilities. These efforts form part of the Swedish Future Fighter Concept Studies.