ctg. morning brief, 27 Oct 2026
On 27 Oct 2026, Helsing is now in the missile business. In Berlin on 26 Oct it unveiled Contra, an AI-run air defence system, plus two interceptors: AD-1 Inferno, a jet-powered interceptor that can loiter, swarm and re-engage at over 700 km/h, and AD-2 Ambush, a solid-rocket missile at Mach 2.5 with 20km+ range. Both are container-launched with radar seekers. Co-CEO Gundbert Scherf put the price below €100,000 each, per Battle Policy.
Why it matters: Helsing says existing interceptors cost €500,000 to €4m, which is the whole problem when the target is a cheap drone. It plans mass production in its own Resilience Factories on two separate European supply chains. Caveats: both missiles are still in development, the earliest delivery named is Q2 2027, and only the Contra command layer has a customer, unnamed. Anduril, Lockheed Martin and CHAOS Industries all pitched cheap interceptors in recent weeks. The race is now unit cost and rate, and a European startup just entered it.
Source: https://helsing.ai/newsroom/helsing-unveils-contra-autonomous-air-defence-alongside-missile-interceptors-ad-1-inferno-and-ad-2-ambush
Chips Act 2.0 is back on the table this Thursday and Friday (29-30 Oct). The Council's industry working party examines the Irish Presidency compromise text 13545/26. Per Agence Europe, the newest compromise, on the supply-crisis pillar, stops the Commission from requesting data directly from companies. National authorities go first, and crisis-stage data requests only kick in when voluntary sharing or aggregated market data fall short.
Why it matters: The same text sets fines of up to €70,000 for SMEs that knowingly submit false data to the supply-chain platform, and an earlier compromise clarified who counts as a domestic company and how non-EU firms can join strategic projects. Capitals are trimming Brussels' crisis powers before they argue about money. Edition candidate: what Europe actually keeps of its chip ambition once 27 governments are done with the text, and what founders and fabs should push for now.
Source: https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/CM-4566-2026-INIT/en/pdf
France ordered four more SAMP/T NG firing units from MBDA and Thales through Eurosam, MBDA said on 23 Oct. OCCAR placed the order for the French government. That takes France to 12 SAMP/T NG systems ordered, delivered in a layered Aster and VL MICA setup.
Why it matters: Four days apart, two ends of air defence: the big Aster system for ballistic and cruise missiles gets another batch, and a startup pitches sub-€100,000 interceptors for the drone swarms. Europe needs both, and both need production lines that run. Twelve units is an order book. Deliveries are the score.
Source: https://defensehere.com/en/france-orders-additional-samp-t-ng-air-and-missile-defense-systems/
Spain softened its data centre decree after more than 600 objections and a CNMC report (26 Oct). The 80% hour-by-hour renewable rule can drop to 60% at peak hours until the end of 2028, then 70%, over a five-year transition, if sites provide grid stability services. New renewables can be up to 36 months old instead of 18, solar of any age can count if it has no PPA yet, minimum PPAs fall from ten to six years, and most rules now start at 10MW instead of 1MW.
Why it matters: Spain wants the AI build-out and the clean grid at once, and just picked speed for the first five years. In exchange, data centres must accept being cut off automatically when the grid needs it. That flexible-load deal is a template other grids in Europe could copy. The draft now goes to the Council of State.
Source: https://www.eleconomista.es/energia/noticias/14023707/10/26/el-gobierno-flexibiliza-el-decreto-de-centros-de-datos-con-un-periodo-de-cinco-anos-para-cumplir-con-los-requisitos-de-renovables.html