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Airbus is moving forward with work that centers on two uncrewed combat aircraft concepts aimed at teaming with crewed fighters.
One effort focuses on an uncrewed “collaborative combat aircraft” approach for Germany that starts from a flight-proven platform.
Another line of development builds on Airbus “remote carrier” and “wingman” concepts designed to extend sensors, effects, and survivability in high-threat airspace.
The work fits into a wider European push to develop crewed-uncrewed teaming as a core feature of future air combat systems.

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Airbus is preparing two uncrewed combat aircraft concepts as it expands work on “collaborative combat” in Europe, aiming to pair uncrewed platforms with crewed fighters and mission networks. The efforts are part of a broader shift toward manned-unmanned teaming, where autonomous aircraft support pilots with sensing, decoying, electronic attack, and strike roles.

Airbus has stepped up development work on uncrewed combat aircraft as European militaries look for faster ways to add mass, reach, and resilience to air forces.

The company’s current direction highlights two main tracks. One uses a flight-proven uncrewed aircraft as a starting point for a German requirement. The other builds on Airbus concepts for “remote carriers” and a stealthy “wingman” that can operate as part of a larger system-of-systems.

## Track one: a German collaborative combat aircraft based on a proven platform
Airbus Defence and Space has partnered with US company Kratos Defense and Security Solutions on an “uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft” concept based on the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie.

Under the teaming arrangement announced in mid-2025, Airbus is to integrate an Airbus-made mission system onto the aircraft, with the aim of delivering a capability described as combat-ready for the German Air Force by 2029.

The program is presented as a practical route into collaborative combat aircraft operations. It starts with an existing air vehicle rather than waiting for an all-new European uncrewed jet to complete design, prototyping, and flight testing.

Airbus has also highlighted work on an “open mission system” intended to enable collaborative operations between German Air Force Eurofighters and uncrewed collaborative combat aircraft. The goal is to help crewed fighters task, coordinate, and benefit from uncrewed teammates without locking operators into a single proprietary architecture.

## Track two: Airbus remote carriers and the Wingman concept
In parallel, Airbus continues to develop uncrewed combat concepts linked to Europe’s Future Combat Air System (FCAS) vision. Airbus uses the term “remote carriers” for uncrewed aircraft that can be launched to carry sensors or payloads, and to create additional options for commanders in contested airspace.

Airbus says it has been demonstrating crewed-uncrewed teaming for several years, including demonstrations using modified target drones and a remote-carrier flight test demonstrator launched from an A400M transport aircraft. Airbus has also described a large-scale European multi-domain flight demonstration involving fighter jets, a helicopter, and multiple uncrewed remote carriers collaborating on a mission.

At the conceptual end of this development is Airbus’s Wingman, a stealthy uncrewed aircraft design shown publicly as a full-scale model in 2024. The Wingman is intended to escort or support crewed aircraft, aligning with “loyal wingman” thinking that is also being pursued in the United States and elsewhere.

## How Airbus links the aircraft to combat operations
Airbus frames these uncrewed aircraft efforts as part of “collaborative combat,” where multiple platforms share data and divide tasks.

In Airbus-led demonstrations and described scenarios, uncrewed aircraft can contribute to surveillance and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and the deployment of aerial effects. Airbus also points to future roles that could include automated refueling concepts and more dynamic coordination among multiple uncrewed aircraft in a single mission.

Airbus has also used exercises and test campaigns with partner platforms to show coordinated flight patterns and task-sharing between uncrewed aircraft, an approach meant to reduce workload for human crews while increasing operational flexibility.

## A crowded European and transatlantic development landscape
Airbus’s work sits in a fast-moving market. European forces are weighing different paths to field collaborative combat aircraft before next-generation crewed fighters arrive in the 2030s and 2040s.

At the same time, Airbus is involved in other uncrewed programs that focus on surveillance and endurance, including the Eurodrone effort with European partners. That program is separate from the smaller, more tactical “wingman” and remote-carrier concepts, but it reflects the wider demand for uncrewed aircraft across mission types.

For Airbus, the near-term challenge is to translate demonstrations and concepts into fielded systems that can integrate with existing fleets such as the Eurofighter, while also staying aligned with longer-term European combat air plans.

AI Perspective

The central story is speed: air forces want uncrewed combat aircraft that can be integrated quickly with today’s fighters, not only with future fleets. Airbus is pursuing this by mixing a near-term path built on an existing air vehicle with longer-term concepts tied to broader combat-air architectures. The next milestones will be less about models and more about integration, autonomy behavior in realistic conditions, and dependable command-and-control in complex airspace.