Kratos and Airbus have teamed up to prepare two Valkyrie Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (UCCA) drones in Manching, Germany for maiden flights equipped with the Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) mission system. The Airbus-missionized Valkyrie flights are slated for later in 2026, marking the first integration of a sovereign European mission system on the platform.

The Kratos Valkyrie is a runway-flexible, high-performance tactical UAV capable of high-subsonic speeds and long-range missions. It spans 8.2 meters with a 9.1-meter length, carries up to three tons at maximum take-off weight, exceeds a 5,000-kilometer range and operates up to 45,000 feet, with an internal weapons bay and wing stations for diverse payloads.

This collaboration addresses urgent European defense needs by combining Kratos’s flight-proven Valkyrie airframe with Airbus’s sovereign MARS system, reducing development time and cost. Successful maiden flights will position Kratos to secure further European UCCA contracts and support scalable ‘affordable mass’ procurement for NATO allies.