I represent a U.S. or allied defense organization.
You have a capability gap and need serious technologies assessed for mission fit, demonstration readiness, manufacturing feasibility, supply-chain trust, and sustainment.
For Defense Partners
HELICON DEFENSE
Ukrainian Defense Technology to Trusted Allied Production
We help defense customers evaluate, test, manufacture, and sustain allied-origin technologies that solve urgent operational gaps.
Battlefield-proven. Originator-protected. Allied-scaled.
Fast enough for wartime needs; disciplined enough for U.S. transition.
- Assess mission fit.
- Protect IP and disclosure sequencing.
- Build test, manufacturing, and transition pathways.
Proof before process.
Every claim links to the public record behind it.
- Two acquired companiesHaleos → Rohm and Haas (2002). Nuvotronics → Cubic (2019, ~$64M+earn-out).
- 125+ issued patentsRF, microwave, packaging, optoelectronics, MEMS, manufacturing.
- Direct-to-primeBAE Systems, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop, Boeing, L3Harris.
- DARPA Innovation Award3D-MERFS, all three phases. Plus DMT and ViSAR program work.
- IEEE MTT-S 2019 Best Industry Paper4,096-element PolyStrata D-band array, with Nokia.
- ISO 9001 + AS9100DQuality systems stood up and operated under SAP-supported lean manufacturing.
- SBIR / STTR transition experienceActive and historical work with DARPA, USMC, NAVSEA, ONR, AFRL, NIST.
- Published technical recordIEEE papers co-authored with BAE engineers and CU Boulder microwave group.
Who We Serve
Three audiences. One disciplined pathway.
- U.S. defense customers — program offices, operational units, and primes evaluating allied-origin capability for mission fit, demonstration readiness, manufacturing feasibility, and sustainment.
- Allied technology originators — field-proven Ukrainian and allied developers seeking responsible transition into trusted production without losing control of their work.
- U.S. manufacturing and integration partners — qualified suppliers and integrators who can produce, integrate, and sustain selected allied capability inside U.S. supply chains.
Originator-Protected
We sequence disclosures, protect attribution, and avoid shopping partner technology without consent.
- Sequenced disclosure. Non-confidential summaries first; sensitive detail only after the right agreements are in place.
- Protected attribution. The originator’s name, lineage, and contribution stay attached to their work across the pathway.
- No shopping without consent. Helicon does not circulate partner technology to potential customers, manufacturers, or integrators without explicit, written authorization from the originator.
Start Where You Fit
One pathway. Four entry points.
Helicon serves different audiences with one disciplined purpose: moving serious allied-origin defense capability toward protected evaluation, trusted manufacturing, and responsible transition.
I built a Ukrainian or allied defense technology.
You have operational validation and need a protected path into U.S. and allied markets without giving away control, IP, attribution, or founder value.
For InnovatorsI can manufacture, integrate, test, or support.
You can help qualified technology become trusted, manufacturable, compliant, scalable, and supportable.
Manufacturing & IntegrationI am trying to understand the mission.
You are an investor, policymaker, journalist, advisor, or interested citizen who wants plain-English context before deciding how to engage.
Open the Field Guide
What Helicon Produces
Concrete transition work, not vague access.
Helicon does not simply make introductions. A qualified engagement is structured to produce the practical artifacts needed for serious evaluation, demonstration, manufacturing, and transition.
- Non-confidential capability brief
- Operational gap mapping
- Initial technical and mission relevance assessment
- Demonstration or evaluation concept
- Manufacturing-readiness snapshot
- Trusted bill-of-materials and supply-chain risk view
- Customer-pathway recommendation
- IP, export, licensing, and disclosure sequencing coordinated with counsel
- Low-rate production and sustainment outline
- Partner-role map for manufacturing, integration, test, or support
These are preparation and assessment deliverables. They are not promises of funding, contracts, endorsement, or automatic transition.
THE TRANSITION MODEL
A protected path from battlefield validation to allied-qualified capability.
Helicon acts as the structured transition layer between Ukrainian and allied defense innovators, U.S. and allied defense customers, and trusted manufacturing and integration partners. We qualify the capability, protect the originator, translate the use case, structure the pathway, and help move serious technology toward demonstration, production, sustainment, and adoption.
Step 01
QUALIFY
Assess the technology, originator, battlefield or customer evidence, maturity, IP position, and mission relevance.
Step 02
PROTECT
Sequence disclosure, preserve background IP, protect founder value, and coordinate legal, export, licensing, and compliance boundaries before broad exposure.
Step 03
TRANSLATE
Convert battlefield validation into U.S. and allied defense language: operational gap, warfighter value, test path, procurement logic, sustainment, and cost-per-effect.
Step 04
DEMONSTRATE
Define relevant demos, evaluation paths, partner roles, customer access, and readiness for SBIR/STTR, OTA, BAA, CSO, eSOF, service labs, primes, or allied channels.
Step 05
SCALE
Build the practical implementation path: trusted supply chain, U.S./EU/allied manufacturing, localization, integration, low-rate production, quality, support, and sustainment.
In simple terms: Helicon helps the right battlefield-proven technology move from wartime validation to allied-qualified production without stripping value from the people who created it.
Nuvotronics Operating Experience
Founder/operator credibility, proven in advanced technology.
Helicon Defense is built on operating experience — not theory.
“I have been fortunate to join David's enterprise, Nuvotronics, back in 2015, and that experience became one of the most life-changing and career-boosting experiences I've had — beneficial to both personal and professional growth. Working with David, what I saw was the discipline, the engineering culture, and the trust placed in talented people. That's the line between simply making introductions and delivering real capability. It's the same founder-operator approach I recognize in Helicon Defense today.”
Paul Rozvadovsky
“Forever a paratrooper. Engineer at heart and soul.”
Nuvotronics · Advanced semiconductor manufacturing
What Helicon Is — and Is Not
Structured transition. Not a marketplace. Not an intermediary.
Helicon Is
- A structured transition pathway
- A protected intake and qualification process
- A bridge between battlefield validation and allied production
- A manufacturing-aware implementation partner
- A translator between innovators, operators, acquisition teams, and production partners
- A founder/operator-led hard-tech commercialization effort
Helicon Is Not
- Not a generic accelerator
- Not an arms marketplace
- Not a public submission portal for controlled technical data
- Not a vague “access” intermediary
- Not a reseller
- Not a channel for stripping value from wartime innovators
- Not a substitute for qualified legal, export-control, procurement, tax, or regulatory counsel
Why Helicon Exists
To turn hard-won frontline learning into trusted, manufacturable allied capability.
Ukraine is generating defense learning under real wartime pressure. Too much of that learning risks staying trapped in silos — blocked by legal uncertainty, supply-chain risk, manufacturing gaps, disclosure concerns, or slow transition pathways.
Helicon exists to help close that gap: protecting originators while helping trusted U.S. and allied partners evaluate, manufacture, field, and sustain useful capability.
Protecting warfighters, civilians, and democratic sovereignty.
Capability Focus Areas
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Six capability lanes where frontline relevance meets allied need.
Helicon concentrates on capability areas where operational pressure, allied innovation, and U.S. and allied transition needs come together.
Counter-UxS / Counter-UAS / EW
Detecting, locating, and responding to hostile unmanned systems, with emphasis on compact RF, electronic warfare, and cost-effective countermeasure pathways.
Explore →All-Domain Battlefield Awareness
Sensor fusion, RF detection, ISR, operator localization, and battlefield awareness across contested environments.
Explore →Edge AI & Human-Centered Decision Support
Human-centered AI that helps warfighters make better decisions faster, with provenance, confidence, and uncertainty — never autonomous lethal decision-making.
Explore →Contested Logistics & Sustainment
Distributed logistics, autonomous resupply, field repair, energy resilience, and sustainment under attack.
Explore →Resilient PNT / Anti-Jam / Electronic Maneuver
Positioning, navigation, timing, anti-jam capability, and electronic maneuver in GPS-degraded and spectrum-contested environments.
Explore →Trusted Manufacturing & Adaptive Production
Trusted sourcing, quality systems, production readiness, and sustainment planning to move qualified capability toward low-rate production.
Explore →Cross-cutting: Energy and critical-infrastructure resilience cut across these lanes. Helicon tracks technologies that keep power, logistics, and infrastructure operating under attack, especially where they support contested sustainment and defense-industrial resilience.
About the Operator
Founder/operator credibility behind the pathway.
Helicon is led by David Sherrer, a founder, inventor, and hard-tech operator with deep experience moving advanced technology from invention into manufacturable products and defense-relevant systems.
- Two acquired companies: Haleos / ACT MicroDevices (Rohm and Haas, 2002) and Nuvotronics / PolyStrata® (Cubic Corporation, 2019)
- 125+ issued U.S. and foreign patents across RF, microwave, advanced packaging, optoelectronics, non-lethal defense, and manufacturing processes
- Direct-to-prime program experience with BAE Systems, Raytheon (RTX), Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, and L3Harris
- DARPA 3D-MERFS Innovation Award following Phase III execution; PolyStrata platform foundation
- IEEE MTT-S IMS 2019 Best Industry Paper Award — 4,096-element PolyStrata D-band antenna array, with Nokia
- ISO 9001 and AS9100D production-grade quality systems stood up and operated under SAP-supported lean manufacturing
- Active U.S. defense program experience across DARPA, SBIR, STTR, Navy, Marine Corps, ONR, and related pathways
Start the Conversation
Have a capability gap, a transition need, or a serious technology?
Helicon works with selected defense innovators, U.S. and allied capability teams, manufacturing partners, and legal and compliance collaborators. Initial conversations are limited to non-confidential summaries.