无人系统时代被描述为已到来，伊朗无人机持续消耗中东防空体系、俄乌持续消耗地面兵力的战场实践被视为加速器。欧洲在技术上不断进步，也开始推出诸如量子系统的无人地面载具和亨尔辛收购 Blue Ocean 的水下自治系统等布局，但仍存在规模化生产能力不足的结构性短板。
与依赖单一客户的美国企业不同，欧洲厂商面对约30个潜在采购方，意味着客户分散、议价链更长、市场规模化放大受限。理论上的北约标准化并未消除差异，企业往往必须在每个目标国家建立工程与研发团队以适配本地需求。
这使得欧洲无人武器产业规模明显偏小：亨尔辛约为140亿美元估值，而量子系统和 Stark 均低于50亿美元，差距约为3倍以上；若结合欧洲政府采购信号，量子系统今年将交付2.10亿欧元设备，德国2月采购攻击无人机2.69亿欧元，EU SAFE又提供1500亿欧元防务采购贷款，后者是单项订单量级的300多倍。
The context portrays unmanned systems as central to current and near-future combat, with Iranian drone use eroding Middle Eastern air defences and Russian-Ukrainian drone use eroding trench warfare, while Europe is still building the industrial depth and speed to scale production. Firms such as Quantum Systems are pushing software-led cheap weapons, and nearby examples include Quantum’s first unmanned ground vehicle and Helsing’s acquisition of autonomous submarine maker Blue Ocean.
The industrial contrast with the United States is structural: American firms can often scale through large Pentagon contracts, while Europe faces roughly 30 potential buyers and requires local engineering presence to meet varied national requirements. Scale and valuation remain modest—Helsing around $14bn versus Quantum and Stark below $5bn, a spread of more than 2.5x—and procurement is complicated by fast AI obsolescence, prompting calls for contracts that reward production capacity ramp-up rather than stockpiled volume.
Although critics argue drones in Ukraine mainly substitute missing capabilities rather than transform war decisively, European demand indicators are still strengthening. Quantum Systems is due to deliver €210m this year, Germany signed €269m in February attack-drone orders from Helsing and Stark, and the EU’s €150bn SAFE procurement financing dwarfs these purchases, reinforcing a shift toward greater European sourcing and lower dependence on U.S. technology.
Source: Europe’s defence startups face even bigger hurdles than America’s
Subtitle: They must contend with a fragmented market and hesitant customers
Dateline: 4月 23, 2026 03:39 上午