How do you defend against a wave of low-cost drones without draining your best air-defense missiles? Airbus says it has a new option, a reusable uncrewed interceptor called \u201cBird of Prey\u201d that is built to spot and destroy one-way attack drones in the kind of messy, fast-moving scenarios modern militaries now face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On March 30, 2026, Airbus said Bird of Prey completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In that test, the company said the system autonomously searched for, detected, classified, identified, and then engaged a target using a Mark I air-to-air missile developed with partner Frankenburg Technologies<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Airbus framed the demo as a full \u201cchain of combat,\u201d not a single isolated shot. The company said Bird of Prey ran the mission sequence on its own, from the initial search to the final intercept, without an operator manually guiding each step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The prototype is based on a modified Airbus Do-DT25 drone. Airbus lists a wingspan of about 8.2 feet (2.5 meters), a length of about 10.2 feet (3.1 meters), and a maximum takeoff weight of roughly 353 pounds (160 kilograms).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also carries its own magazine. Airbus said the prototype flew with four Mark I missiles, while an operational version is planned to carry up to eight, allowing multiple engagements in a single mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One-way attack drones have become a go-to tool in recent conflicts because they are cheap, easy to launch, and hard to ignore. The pressure they create is not just physical but logistical, since even a successful defense can burn through interceptors that were designed for bigger threats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space<\/a>, said \u201cdefending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled.\u201d He also said Bird of Prey paired with Frankenburg\u2019s \u201caffordable\u201d missiles can fill \u201ca crucial capability gap\u201d in today\u2019s asymmetric conflict theaters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is where the economics start to feel very real. A defense plan that works on paper still has to work when the threat shows up at 2 a.m. and the magazines are already half empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Airbus says Bird of Prey\u2019s core weapon is Frankenburg\u2019s Mark I, a \u201cfire-and-forget\u201d interceptor that guides itself after launch. That matters because it reduces the need for continuous operator control, especially when multiple targets appear at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By Airbus\u2019s description, the Mark I is a high-subsonic missile with an engagement range of up to about 0.93 miles (1.5 kilometers). Each missile measures about 26 inches (65 centimeters) and weighs under about 4.4 pounds (2 kilograms), and Airbus says that makes it the lightest guided interceptor developed to date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Frankenburg CEO Kusti Salm called the Airbus integration \u201ca defining step for modern air defense,\u201d adding that it creates \u201ca new cost curve for air defense\u201d by putting \u201cmass-manufacturable\u201d interceptors on a drone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reuters reported that Poland\u2019s state-owned defense group PGZ<\/a> and Frankenburg plan a plant in Poland with capacity to produce up to 10,000 Mark I missiles per year, and the deal also outlines a Mark II interceptor expected to extend the effective range to about 3.1 to 5.0 miles (5 to 8 kilometers). <\/p>\n\n\n\n The companies did not disclose the investment, the plant location, or a production start date.<\/p>\n\n\n\nA first flight built around autonomy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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