Airbus Readies Valkyrie UCCA for Flight

Airbus MARS-equipped Kratos Valkyrie Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (UCCA) | Photo: Airbus Defence and Space

Airbus Defence and Space is preparing two uncrewed combat aircraft based on the Kratos Valkyrie platform for their first flight with a European mission system. The aircraft are being readied at Manching in Germany and are scheduled to fly later in 2026 as part of efforts to offer a collaborative combat aircraft capability to the German Air Force by 2029.

The aircraft are supplied by Kratos Defense & Security Solutions and are being equipped with Airbus’ Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) mission system. The system includes an AI-enabled software component known as MindShare, which is designed to manage flight operations and coordinate missions across multiple platforms, including both crewed and uncrewed aircraft.

“By combining the Kratos Valkyrie with our MARS mission system, we are offering the German customer exactly what Germany and Europe urgently need in the current geopolitical situation: a proven flying uncrewed combat aircraft with a sovereign European mission system that does not have to be developed from scratch in a time-consuming and costly manner,” said Marco Gumbrecht, Head of Key Account Germany at Airbus Defence and Space. “Our objective is to deliver credible combat capability in time of relevance, while assuring key sovereign aspects. And we are confident that we can do this at a very affordable price – which is a key driver for UCCAs.”

Steve Fendley, President of Kratos Unmanned Systems Division, said, “We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity, the capability we’re providing, and the teaming relationship with Airbus. By taking the flight-proven and in-production Valkyrie and integrating the Airbus MARS mission system, the Airbus-missionised Valkyrie UCCA is a multi-mission, affordable system that can operate independently, in teams of UAS, or in Manned-Unmanned-Teaming operations. Along with the technical and production backing Airbus and Kratos bring, we are realising an optimal capability system that can be bought and deployed as ‘affordable mass’; the consistent discriminator identified in today’s peer to peer wargames.”

Airbus is also working with Rafael Advanced Defense Systems to enhance the Litening 5 targeting pod for the Eurofighter. The upgrade is intended to provide connectivity that allows the aircraft to act as a command platform for uncrewed systems, with additional avionics updates planned.

The Valkyrie platform has a range of over 5,000 km and can operate at altitudes up to 45,000 feet. The aircraft is designed to carry out missions either autonomously or under control of a crewed aircraft, including roles involving both kinetic and non-kinetic operations.