Loitering munition: Stark brings Jan-Patrick Helmsen onto its board as Chief Sales Officer

Stark, a German manufacturer of loitering munition, is adding two people to its board at once: Jan-Patrick Helmsen and Martin Rost. As the company announced in a recently issued press release, Helmsen takes on the post of Chief Sales Officer (CSO), while Rost holds the position of Chief Operating Officer (COO). Stark expects both of them to “make a decisive contribution to the next phase of growth”.

Head of sales for loitering munition comes from Rheinmetall

Business development and sales will in future fall within Helmsen's remit. Over two decades, he has gained experience in the defence sector, both in the military and in industry. He began his career as an army officer in the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces); he then worked for Rheinmetall for ten years.

Most recently, he headed Rheinmetall Waffe Munition GmbH there as CEO. With sales of more than 2.5 billion euros, it is the group's fastest-growing and most profitable division. Since 2014, the year of the annexation of Crimea, Helmsen has played a key part in shaping Rheinmetall's strong expansion in a wide range of roles. From January 2026, he will be in charge of global sales, market development and new business areas at Stark.

Stark CEO Uwe Horstmann commented on the two appointments: “We are delighted to welcome Jan-Patrick and Martin to Stark. With them, we are gaining two outstanding leaders with a deep understanding of strategic growth and operational excellence. And much more importantly: we share the conviction that Europe must quickly build its own capabilities for credible deterrence. I am pleased that both are now becoming part of Stark's mission.”

Helmsen himself describes his motives as follows: “Since my time as a soldier, I have been driven by a clear motivation: safeguarding our democracy, protecting Germany and our partners, and strengthening our capacity to act in defence policy. For me, the soldier is always at the centre. In an emergency, he carries the political decision and deserves the best possible support. In this phase of upheaval in security policy, I am pleased to become part of Stark. For me, Stark's dynamic team combines speed, state-of-the-art technology and operational as well as systemic relevance. With Stark, we can rapidly integrate modern technologies into highly networked battle management and make them available to our soldiers on the battlefield as quickly as possible. Their operational value is increased many times over. That is what I am committed to.”