Airbus unveiled on the ILA Berlin 2026 exhibition the brand new U760 Ravenstorm Uncrewed Collaborative Fight Plane, designed for air-to-air, air-to-ground and digital warfare missions.
On the sidelines of the Worldwide Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin, Airbus Protection and House unveiled a brand new multirole Unmanned Collaborative Fight Plane (UCCA), the U760 Ravenstorm. The corporate additionally revealed the designation of its variant of the U.S.-made XQ-58A Valkyrie, which is being tailored for the European market because the U740 Valkyrie in collaboration with Kratos.
The Ravenstorm and Valkyrie are deliberate to be delivered by 2030s and 2029 respectively, with the latter significantly being ready to work along with the German Air Power’s (Luftwaffe) Eurofighters. Airbus has scheduled two of the Valkyrie airframes’ flights with European mission methods later this yr, earlier than being ultimately paired with German Eurofighter Typhoons in manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T).
The U760 appears to have been within the conceptual stage for some time, and is solely totally different in design and aesthetics from Airbus’ stealthy loyal wingman UCAV unveiled within the 2024 iteration of ILA Berlin. The corporate didn’t present updates on the latter, and the standing of this system is thus unclear.
In comparison with the mockup of the 2024 stealthy loyal wingman, the U760 includes a extra compact design, concurrent with the prevalent aerodynamic configurations seen in CCAs elsewhere. These applications are additionally largely impartial of the collapsing Future Fight Air System (FCAS), as they might serve the present Gen. 4.5 and 5 plane just like the Storm and the F-35.
As we reported, the work on the drone system and knowledge community that might have supported the Subsequent Technology Fighter (NGF) as a part of FCAS are anticipated to proceed. It’s potential the U760 may very well be a part of Airbus’ work within the ‘Distant Service’ element of that next-generation program.
At @ILA_Berlin, Airbus presents Europe’s most versatile drone portfolio for defence and safety. Amongst them is the most recent addition to our vary of uncrewed collaborative fight plane: the U760 Ravenstorm. It’ll help fighter pilots on a wide range of missions by the early… pic.twitter.com/SitVROEbcE
— Airbus Defence (@AirbusDefence) June 9, 2026
U760 Ravenstorm
The U760 Ravenstorm includes a top-mounted engine consumption configuration, much like the YFQ-42A Darkish Merlin and YFQ-48A Talon Blue CCAs, and a shovel-like nostril equally to the latter. The plane additionally bears some resemblance to the XQ-58A Valkyrie, on which Airbus is already working.
The idea rendition exhibits what seem like sensor arrays on the perimeters and the nostril, though their nature is unclear. The 1:1 mock-up proven on the exhibition exhibits two Meteor Past Visible-Vary air-to-air missiles (BVRAAM) beside the plane as a consultant payload.
Presently there isn’t any definitive details about the weapon carriage configuration, together with whether or not the weapons shall be carried internally or externally. Relating to the size, Airbus says the show mannequin has a wingspan of 10 meters and a size of 13 meters.
The U760 Ravenstorm (pic 1) being debuted at this yr’s #ILA2026 seems to be the most recent iteration of the Wingman (pic 2) that made its look on the similar occasion in 2024, however which is now absent from Airbus’ drone portfolio announcement beneath. Not as smooth and attention-grabbing,… pic.twitter.com/jsglDNz7AF
— Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) June 9, 2026
The corporate described Ravenstorm as a household of “scalable” UCCAs that characterize the roadmap in that class of plane, and stated they might be able to air-to-air, air-to-ground and digital warfare missions. “Optimised for multi-domain missions, the UCCA’s capabilities embrace air-to-surface strikes utilizing precision-guided munitions, air-to-air defence with lengthy and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles, and digital warfare for suppressing enemy air defences and offensive counter-air utilizing non-kinetic jamming. Ravenstorm shall be accessible within the early 2030s,” stated Airbus within the press launch.
Curiously, the Ravenstorm can also be primarily based on the expertise gathered because the EADS Barracuda demonstrator flew 20 years in the past, as famous by Airbus.
“Airbus builds on 20 years of UCCA expertise, beginning with the Barracuda demonstrator that flew for the primary time 20 years in the past,” stated the corporate. “It marked a pioneering step in uncrewed collaborative fight, introducing design ideas which have since formed this class of functionality. Airbus is pursuing a phased functionality build-up to fulfill pressing operational UCCA wants.”
On a facet observe, certain it’s not misplaced on anybody simply how related the Valkyrie is to the EADS (now Airbus Defence and House) #Barracuda. A curious case of historical past not less than rhyming, if not really repeating itself… pic.twitter.com/ay9BnkqKCo
— Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) July 16, 2025
The Valkyrie in the meantime, built-in with Airbus’ proprietary Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Safe (MARS) Mission System, is being developed to “ship an operational, sovereign UCCA to the German Air Power by 2029.” The corporate added that “this foundational step will allow operational experimentation, preliminary air-to-ground capabilities, and the teaming of the Valkyrie with the Eurofighter.”
Germany has signed on for the Eurofighter Tranche 5, and can also be a future buyer of the F-35A Lightning II, having ordered 35 airframes and contemplating 15 extra. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless unclear if the U760 would function with the U.S.-made fighter.
Future
This debut would make the U760 the fifth CCA to be within the working within the European market and, after the CA-1 Europa, is the second publicly unveiled system indigenously developed by the continent’s protection business. Different methods at the moment being labored in Europe are of overseas origin, just like the MQ-28A Ghost Bat, the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie (within the U740 variant) and the Turkish Kizilelma.
The MQ-28 and XQ-58 are additionally being thought-about by Germany, with the latter being personalized by Airbus in cooperation with Kratos, as talked about earlier. Kizilelma, following new agreements, shall be closely personalized with mission methods from Leonardo for the European market, however there’s at the moment no details about potential prospects.
