Airbus Tests Low Cost Missile on New Bird of Prey Interceptor Drone

April 2, 2026

By Woodrow Bellamy III

The Airbus Bird of Prey drone releases a Mark 1 missile. (Image: Airbus)

Airbus completed the first demonstration flight of its new Bird of Prey drone, featuring a low-cost interceptor missile, at a military training area in northern Germany.

The Bird of Prey prototype is based on an existing Airbus uncrewed aerial system (UAS), the Do-DT25, designed to operate within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) integrated air defense architecture, according to an Airbus press release . During the demonstration flight, the Bird of Prey drone detected and engaged a one-way attack drone using the Mark I air-to-air missile developed by defense technology startup Frankenburg Technologies.

In comments on the demonstration flight, executives from both Airbus and Frankenburg emphasized the need for low-cost interceptor missiles and drones that can be mass-manufactured. Ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and Iran have highlighted the effectiveness of mass-producible, low-cost drones against the expensive interceptor missiles typically used to counter them.

A field test of Frankenburg Technologies’ Mark 1 missile. (Image: Frankenburg Technologies)

In a recently published report examining the use of low-cost drones in Iran, “Unpacking Iran’s Drone Campaign in the Gulf: Early Lessons for Future Drone Warfare,” the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) estimates the cost of interceptor drones used in Ukraine to be between $2,000 and $4,000, and has previously estimated that the Iranian Shahed drone has an average cost of $35,000. In contrast, the U.S. military’s Patriot missile “cost[s] around $4 million per shot,” according to CSIS.

“Against the current geopolitical and military backdrop, defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. “With our Bird of Prey and Frankenburg’s affordable Mark I missiles, we are providing armed forces with an effective, cost-efficient interceptor, filling a crucial capability gap in today’s asymmetric conflict theatres. The integration of Bird of Prey into Airbus’ air defence battle management suite, IBMS, acts as a force multiplier.”

According to Airbus, the demonstration flight occurred “just nine months after” the Bird of Prey program was launched. The prototype aircraft featured in the demonstration has a maximum takeoff weight of 160 kg, a length of 3.1 meters, and a wingspan of 2.5 meters, with the capacity to carry up to four of Frankenburg’s Mark I air-to-air missiles. The operational version of the Bird of Prey drone will be capable of carrying up to eight Mark I missiles.

Established in 2024 and based in Tallinn, Estonia, Frankenburg designed the Mark I as a low-cost, mass-manufacturable, subsonic “fire-and-forget” interceptor missile. The company regularly publishes test footage on its website showing missile trials. The Mark I weighs less than 2 kg, measures 65 centimeters in length, and has an engagement range of up to 1.5 kilometers.

According to Frankenburg, the Mark I missiles are the “lightest guided interceptors developed to date.” The missiles are equipped with fragmentation warheads capable of neutralizing multiple one-way attack drones “per mission at a lower cost per kill than what is available today,” the company notes.

“This is a defining step for modern air defense,” said Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies. “Together with Airbus, it marks the first integration of a new class of low-cost, mass-manufacturable interceptor missiles onto a drone, creating a new cost curve for air defense and enabling defense against mass aerial threats at a fundamentally different scale.”