Built for the Hard Part: Moving Technology Toward Fielded Capability.
Helicon Defense is a founder/operator-led transition effort focused on helping selected Ukrainian and allied defense technologies become warfighter-relevant, compliant, manufacturable, and supportable.
Wartime learning should not stay trapped at the edge.
Ukraine is producing hard-won defense learning under conditions few organizations ever experience. Some of that learning may be directly relevant to U.S., European, NATO, and allied defense needs. But real transition requires more than interest. It requires structure, trust, IP protection, export discipline, manufacturing realism, customer translation, and sustainment planning.
Helicon exists to help build that path.
Led by a founder who has built, manufactured, and transitioned hard technology.
Helicon Defense is led by David Sherrer, a founder, inventor, and hard-tech operator with experience moving advanced technology from invention into manufacturable systems, defense-relevant products, and successful company outcomes.
- 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
People who built serious technology, together.
“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.”
Structure first. Then execution.
Helicon’s operating philosophy is simple: protect the originator, clarify the customer problem, structure the legal and compliance path, assess manufacturing reality, and only then move toward demonstration, partnership, production, and sustainment.
Serious technology deserves a serious pathway.
If you represent a defense customer, allied innovator, manufacturing partner, expert, or strategic collaborator, begin with a non-confidential conversation.