Airbus, Kratos to deliver Valkyrie-based combat drone for Luftwaffe by 2029

Airbus Defence and Space has entered a strategic partnership with US-based Kratos Defense and Security Solutions to develop a European variant of the XQ-58A Valkyrie, an uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft (CCA) expected to be operational with the German Air Force by 2029. 

The XQ-58A is a low-observable, rail-launched drone with a maximum takeoff weight of around three tons. Designed for high-end teaming missions, the Valkyrie can deliver both kinetic and non-kinetic effects, operating autonomously or in coordination with fighter jets. It boasts a range of approximately 3,000 miles and can reach altitudes up to 45,000 feet. Its goal is to extend the range of other aircraft by working together as a human-machine team while keeping pilots out of harm’s way.  

Airbus will provide a mission system built to integrate seamlessly with Valkyrie and other current or future collaborative combat aircraft. The system aims to deliver a sovereign European solution within NATO’s interoperability framework. 

“In the given disruptive geopolitical context, our customers have expressed an urgent demand for both attritable and non-attritable Collaborative Combat Aircraft,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. “This collaboration, based on a proven UAS platform and featuring a sovereign multi-platform mission system, will deliver crucial capabilities for Europe before the end of the decade.” 

“The Valkyrie system was designed as an affordable and formidable CCA, proven since 2019,” Kratos CEO Eric DeMarco added. “Partnering with Airbus allows us to bring a ‘European-tuned’ Valkyrie to market faster.” 

Growing race for European autonomous airpower 

Europe is pushing to accelerate uncrewed and AI-enabled air systems. The announcement follows a similar move unveiled during the Paris Air Show 2025, where Germany’s Rheinmetall and US-based Anduril Industries announced a partnership to co-develop autonomous air systems, including European variants of Anduril’s Barracuda and Fury drones.  

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Those platforms aim to provide modular, mass-producible capabilities for manned-unmanned teaming, reflecting NATO’s emphasis on affordability and operational flexibility. 

As major European defense players seek rapid, sovereign solutions to counter evolving threats, collaborations with US firms appear to be the preferred model, one promising both speed and industrial participation. 

A step closer to FCAS ambitions? 

Europe’s flagship program, the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), led by France, Germany, and Spain with Airbus as a core industrial partner, aims to deliver a sixth-generation fighter and an advanced “combat cloud” that includes combat drones in the 2040s.  

Until then, Collaborative Combat Aircraft like Valkyrie could help bridge the gap, serving as an early step toward that vision by linking manned fighters with uncrewed platforms in a networked battlespace.  

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France is also pursuing its own complementary effort, announcing in late 2024 a next-generation combat drone designed to operate alongside the future F5-standard Rafale by 2033. The post Airbus, Kratos to deliver Valkyrie-based combat drone for Luftwaffe by 2029 appeared first on AeroTime.

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