Airbus U740 Valkyrie makes first European flight

Airbus announced on 12 October that the U740 Valkyrie, developed with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, completed its first flight in Europe at an undisclosed northern European test facility. Airbus reports a runway-independent, rocket-assisted launch, manoeuvres at different altitudes and speeds up to Mach 0.8, and in-flight mission adjustments. It says the sortie met its planned objectives, but did not provide a flight duration, independent test report, exact site or date of the flight. This is a European programme flight milestone for an aircraft based on the already-flown Kratos XQ-58 family, not the first flight of the Valkyrie airframe concept worldwide.

What remains to be demonstrated

Airbus says later, more complex flights will test its Multi-platform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) mission system. MARS is intended to give European operators control of mission software, data and hardware and to coordinate uncrewed aircraft with crewed fighters. The 12 October announcement does not establish that the complete MARS configuration or Eurofighter teaming was demonstrated in this flight. Likewise, describing the aircraft as a collaborative combat aircraft does not itself prove operational mission autonomy, weapons employment or acceptance by a military customer.

The company lists a 9.1-metre length, 8.2-metre wingspan, roughly three-tonne maximum take-off weight, more than 5,000-kilometre range and 45,000-foot service ceiling for the U740 design. These are published design figures, not all measurements from this particular sortie. Airbus says the aircraft has an internal weapons bay and external payload stations, but the release does not report a weapons test.

Programme context

Airbus and Kratos aim to offer a combat-ready European collaborative combat aircraft by 2029 for German and other European requirements. The release does not announce a production order, service acceptance or a committed German delivery date. Subsequent evidence to watch is MARS flight integration, crewed-uncrewed coordination trials, payload testing and a customer acquisition decision. The existing Kratos library profile and collaborative-combat-aircraft sector page provide background; this report records the distinct October European flight, with the later capability goals kept separate from the achieved test.

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