{"id":63994,"date":"2026-03-16T23:38:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T22:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=63994"},"modified":"2026-03-26T11:20:42","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:20:42","slug":"the-american-stealth-drone-kratos-valkyrie-a-combat-partner-for-the-eurofighter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2026\/03\/16\/the-american-stealth-drone-kratos-valkyrie-a-combat-partner-for-the-eurofighter\/","title":{"rendered":"The American stealth drone Kratos Valkyrie, a combat partner for the Eurofighter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Unmanned collaborative combat aircraft (UCCAs) aspire to be an important part of the air warfare of the future.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p><rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2025\/07\/05\/the-capabilities-of-the-eurodrone-a-large-unmanned-plane-that-will-be-operated-by-spain\/\">The capabilities of the Eurodrone, a large unmanned plane that will be operated by Spain<\/a><\/rel><br \/>\n<rel><a href=\"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2021\/11\/25\/remote-carriers-airbus-project-to-convert-the-a400m-into-an-aircraft-carrier-airplane\/\">Remote Carriers: Airbus' project to convert the A400M into an aircraft carrier airplane<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n<p>This Monday, <strong>Airbus Defence released a video showcasing the Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie UCCA<\/strong>, stating the following: <em>\"Airbus is currently equipping <strong>two Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft (UCCA)<\/strong>, which were acquired from US partner Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc., with <strong>Airbus' sovereign European mission system, the Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) system<\/strong>.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"This is the Valkyrie\" width=\"665\" height=\"374\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TZtpoB5bCUc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Airbus Defence notes that <em>\"<strong>MARS also contains an AI-supported software brain called MindShare<\/strong> which not only replaces the missing pilot, but <strong>is also capable of coordinating entire mission groups<\/strong> by being distributed across many manned and uncrewed platforms.\"<\/em> Airbus Defence <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airbus.com\/en\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2026-03-airbus-is-preparing-two-uncrewed-combat-aircraft-from-kratos-for-first-flight-with-a-european\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">has announced<\/a> that it expects the UCCA Valkyrie to be operational by 2029, although <strong>its maiden flight with a sovereign European mission system is planned for later this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55150877762_cb443bde74_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55150877762_cb443bde74_o.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>\"<strong>Fully autonomous or commanded by a Eurofighter, the Valkyrie will be able to take on sensitive mission tasks that would pose too great a danger to the pilot<\/strong>,\"<\/em> Airbus Defence stated. <em>\"The UCCA can service kinetic and non-kinetic mission sets in several roles. <strong>For the German customer, Airbus and Kratos are initially focusing on a specific role<\/strong> to deliver credible combat air power on time and on target.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55151771511_f2ffc161e0_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55151771511_bcae364c96_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie made its maiden flight on March 6, 2019<\/strong>, at the Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. It was designed for the United States Air Force's (USAF) Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator (LCASD) program. <strong>It is a stealth drone with a low radar signature.<\/strong> The U.S. Navy and Marine Corps also each acquired two XQ-58s for evaluation. <strong>This drone can perform attack, reconnaissance, and even air defense missions<\/strong>, and can be equipped with AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missiles.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55152004479_6cfc4392a4_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55152004479_188765bd99_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>The Valkyrie is smaller than a manned fighter jet.<\/strong> It measures 9.1 meters long, has a wingspan of 8.2 meters, and twin tail fins. It is equipped with a Williams FJ33 turbofan engine with 8.9 kN of thrust and can take off from unprepared locations and even from ships using small rockets. <strong>Its range is over 5,000 kilometers, and it reaches a maximum speed of 1,048 km\/h<\/strong>, with a cruising speed of 882 km\/h. Its maximum takeoff weight is 2,722 kg. <strong>Its operational ceiling is 45,000 feet (14,000 meters).<\/strong> It can carry up to 270 kg of weapons in an internal bay and another 270 kg on two underwing hardpoints. It can withstand maneuvers of more than 6G.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55152004484_35be9893bf_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55152004484_cba86c8c39_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Marco Gumbrecht, Director of Key Accounts for Germany at Airbus Defence and Space, commented on these drones: <em>\"By combining the Kratos Valkyrie with our MARS mission system, <strong>we are offering the German customer exactly what Germany and Europe urgently need in the current geopolitical situation:<\/strong> a proven flying uncrewed combat aircraft with a sovereign European mission system that<strong> does not have to be developed from scratch in a time-consuming and costly manner<\/strong>.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55151933278_e6b0a8d863_o.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/live.staticflickr.com\/65535\/55151933278_8bd33e741f_z.jpg\" style=\"width:100%; height:auto; border:0px;\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Steve Fendley, President of Kratos' Unmanned Systems Division, stated: <em>\"By taking the flight-proven and in-production Valkyrie and integrating the Airbus MARS mission system, <strong>the Airbus-missionised Valkyrie UCCA is a multi-mission, affordable system that can operate independently<\/strong>, in teams of UAS, or in Manned-Unmanned-Teaming operations. Along with the technical and production backing Airbus and Kratos bring,<strong> we are realising an optimal capability system that can be bought and deployed as \u2018affordable mass\u2019<\/strong>; the consistent discriminator identified in today\u2019s peer to peer wargames.\"<\/em><\/p>\n<p>---<\/p>\n<p><small>Main image: Airbus Defence. Photos: Kratos Defense.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unmanned collaborative combat aircraft (UCCAs) aspire to be an important part of the air warfare of the future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[19534,11546],"tags":[7519,1248,10929,26462,2678],"class_list":["post-63994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-defense-portada-eng","category-military-aviation","tag-drones","tag-eurofighter-typhoon","tag-germany","tag-kratos-xq-58-valkyrie","tag-luftwaffe"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-15 12:45:46","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63994\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}