Airbus partners with Ukrainian drone maker SkyFall on air defense

Airbus Defence and Space and Ukrainian drone manufacturer SkyFall signed a memorandum of understanding at the ILA Berlin Air Show on June 12, 2026, launching a strategic partnership on air defense and counter-drone technologies. The signing took place in the presence of German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. 

SkyFall combines rapid prototyping with serial manufacturing and produces the Vampire heavy bomber drone, nicknamed ‘Baba Yaga’ by Russian forces. The company is also responsible for Shrike FPV drones and the P1-SUN interceptor, designed to counter Shahed-type one-way attack drones.  

According to SkyFall CEO Mykola Makovieiev, the company’s interceptors have neutralized more than 10,000 Russian drones in combat, and the partnership will develop a new generation of technologies for a multi-layered air shield over Ukrainian and European airspace. 

Ukrainian combat experience meets Airbus command and control 

The two companies argue that their partnership will reinforce the protection of Ukrainian airspace against drone and missile strikes, while strengthening Ukraine’s position as a leading European center for defense innovation. Airbus is contributing its system-of-systems and command and control expertise in integrated air and missile defense (IAMD), paired with SkyFall’s field-tested technologies. 

Airbus Defence and Space CEO Michael Schoellhorn suggested that countering affordable saturation attacks with drones across European airspace requires technological agility, multinational interoperability, and battle-tested capabilities. He added that the alliance “bridges the gap between traditional defence systems and rapid-cycle innovation”. 

The companies claim that the initiative directly supports the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) and will bring advanced Ukrainian defense technologies to the European market. 

Third Airbus air defense deal in three days at ILA Berlin 

The SkyFall agreement caps a rapid sequence of air defense announcements by Airbus at ILA Berlin 2026, which runs from June 10 to 14, 2026.  

On June 10, 2026, the company signed an agreement with Diehl Defence to intensify cooperation in integrated air and missile defense, building on the two firms’ work on the IRIS-T SLM system.  

On June 11, 2026, Airbus announced a partnership with French startup Alta Ares to connect interceptor drones and targeting software deployed in Ukraine since 2024 to its Fortion IBMS command and control suite. 

Taken together, the agreements point to Airbus positioning its command-and-control backbone at the center of a layered European counter-drone architecture, built around systems already validated in Ukraine. The same show has seen the company commit to the Team Gen 6 industrial grouping for the realigned FCAS fighter effort. The post Airbus partners with Ukrainian drone maker SkyFall on air defense appeared first on AeroTime.

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