What Happened
Airbus And Kratos Advance Collaborative Combat Aircraft Development
Airbus has successfully completed the first flight in Europe of its U740 Valkyrie combat drone, a version of the Kratos-built uncrewed combat aircraft. The flight, which took place at a Northern European test site, met all test objectives, including a runway-independent, rocket-assisted takeoff and in-flight mission changes. The milestone keeps Airbus and Kratos on track to offer a combat-ready collaborative combat aircraft by 2029 for the German Air Force and other European armed forces. The companies are also developing the Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) mission system, which will give European operators control over the aircraft’s software, mission applications, data, and hardware. This development was first reported by AeroTime.