Airbus Equips Kratos Drones for German Air Force UCCA System

May 1, 2026

Airbus
Manching, Germany
www.airbus.com

Airbus is working to offer the German Air Force an operational Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (UCCA) system by 2029. In Manching, near Munich, Germany, the company is currently preparing the first two Valkyries it acquired from its U.S. partner Kratos for their maiden flight with a European mission system.

They are scheduled to complete the first flight of the modified Valkyrie drones fly later this year.

Airbus is currently equipping the UCCAs with its sovereign European mission system, the Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) system. MARS also contains an AI-supported software brain called MindShare which not only replaces the missing pilot, but is also capable of coordinating entire mission groups by being distributed across many crewed and uncrewed platforms.

To enable the Eurofighter to act as a “command aircraft” with cross-platform connectivity performance, Airbus and Rafael are enhancing the Litening 5 Advanced Targeting Pod, already contracted for the Eurofighter fleet, with a connectivity capability. Along with minor updates to the Eurofighter’s avionics, these enhancements will significantly increase the aircraft’s lethality in combat.

The Kratos Valkyrie has a length of 9.1 meters, a wingspan of 8.2 meters, and a range of over 5,000 kilometers. The maximum take-off weight (MTOW) is around three tons. It can fly at an altitude of up to 45,000 feet.

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