This article is published in Aerospace Daily & Defense Report part of Aviation Week Intelligence Network (AWIN), and is complimentary through Mar 23, 2026. For information on becoming an AWIN Member to access more content like this, click here.
European efforts to demonstrate collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) efforts are gaining pace, with Airbus saying it is looking to fly two modified Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie systems before year end.
Airbus last year announced it had teamed with Kratos to jump-start its CCA ambitions. The company on March 13 shared more details, adding that it was equipping the two Valkyries with a European mission system called Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure. It features machine learning software called MindShare to help with autonomous operations and coordination among CCAs.
Leonardo CEO Roberto Cingolani, a day earlier, said his company is planning to demonstrate operations between a company M-346 trainer and two Baykar-provided uncrewed combat aircraft this year. The first of the trials is due in May.
Europe has been pressing to avoid falling too far behind the U.S. and others with the use of CCAs. The German Air Force also has signaled it wants such a system before the end of the decade to provide additional combat mass to augment its crewed fighters. The German government has not yet selected a system. Airbus faces competition from companies such as Helsing and Rheinmetall to meet the requirement.
In a statement Marco Gumbrecht, who oversees German programs for Airbus’s defense business, said, “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.”
Airbus said it was working with Rafael on an enhanced Litening 5 targeting pod to allow Eurofighter Typhoons to act as a command aircraft for the CCAs. The uncrewed system is intended to perform kinetic and non-kinetic missions, Airbus said.
“For the German customer, Airbus and Kratos are initially focusing on a specific role to deliver credible combat air power on time and on target,” the company said.
Related Content
