US EditionAirbus, Kratos Team to Pitch German Air Force Drone Wingmen
GERMANY, JUL 16 – The partnership aims to deliver a combat-ready drone variant with a proven platform and European mission systems to enhance Germany's air capabilities by 2029, Airbus and Kratos said.
- European aerospace group Airbus joined US-based Kratos in partnering to integrate an Airbus-developed mission system into the XQ-58A Valkyrie, aiming for `combat ready` status by 2029.
- As major defense players seek rapid sovereign solutions, Europe’s push for uncrewed, AI-enabled air systems and US collaborations drives the partnership, aiming for NATO interoperability.
- Technical data show the rail-launched Valkyrie can travel 3,000 miles at 45,000 feet, it weighs three tons and features an AI-based system as a `loyal wingman`.
- The partnership will equip Kratos' Valkyrie with Airbus mission systems tailored to German needs, and the variant is expected to be operational by 2029.
- According to Airbus Defence and Space, this collaboration is set to accelerate Europe’s defense capability and strengthen NATO’s transatlantic ties, and it will deliver crucial capabilities before the decade’s end.
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Airbus, Kratos team to pitch German Air Force drone wingmen
An Airbus spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the partnership, featuring Kratos’s XQ-58A Valkyrie paired with Airbus-provided mission systems, is “offer[ing] our German customer something we believe they have a requirement for in the coming years.”
In this context, he says, “we are excited about our partnership with Airbus, which will again result in a variant of Valkyrie first on the market, now ‘tuned’ for the European mission.”
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Airbus and Kratos Join Forces to Deliver Valkyrie-Based Combat Drone for German Air Force by 2029 — Global Defense Insight
Airbus Defence and Space has partnered with U.S.-based Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to adapt the proven XQ-58A Valkyrie drone into a combat-ready uncrewed aircraft system (UAS) for the German Air Force by the end of the decade. The joint effort, announced this week, leverages Kratos’ existing XQ-58A Valkyrie platform—a rail-launched, low-observable uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft (UCCA)—and integrates it with a new sovereign missio…
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