Airbus teams with Kratos to offer Valkyrie UAS to Germany

The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie is being offered to Germany, equipped with a mission system provided by Airbus Defence and Space. (Kratos)

Airbus Defence and Space (DS) is teaming with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions to offer the XQ-58A Valkyrie unmanned ‘loyal wingman' to Germany.

Announced on 16 July, the partnership will see the European company provide the mission system for the US-designed collaborative combat aircraft (CCA). The combination will be combat-ready for the Luftwaffe by 2029.

“Airbus' mission system, through its platform-agnostic system architecture, is designed to integrate seamlessly into the Valkyrie and other existing and future platforms in the growing ecosystem of crewed and uncrewed platforms,” Airbus DS said.

The Valkyrie is a stealthy unmanned aircraft system (UAS) with a maximum take-off weight of three tons that is designed to deliver kinetic and non-kinetic effects either in autonomous missions or employed with teaming manned combat aircraft. The prototype, linked to the Skyborg programme via the US Air Force (USAF) Low-Cost Attritable Aircraft Technology (LCAAT) effort, has been in development since 2016 and is able to travel 3,000 miles (4,828 km) at altitudes up to 45,000 ft.

“In the given disruptive geopolitical context, our customers have expressed an urgent demand for both attritable and non-attritable CCAs. The collaboration of Kratos and Airbus, based on an existing and proven UAS platform and featuring a sovereign multiplatform mission system, will deliver crucial capabilities for our warfighters in Europe before the end of the decade. This partnership will help to accelerate Europe's ability to defend itself while fostering NATO's transatlantic ties,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus DS.