Munich, Germany, 30 March 2026 – The Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’ interceptor drone has successfully executed its inaugural demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In a training exercise that emulates real-world scenarios, the drone autonomously searched, detected, and classified a medium-sized kamikaze drone. Following the successful identification, the Bird of Prey interceptor engaged the target using a Mark I air-to-air missile, developed in partnership with the defence tech start-up Frankenburg Technologies.
“In light of the current geopolitical and military climate, the defense against kamikaze drones is a pressing tactical priority,” commented Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space. “Our Bird of Prey, combined with Frankenburg’s cost-effective Mark I missiles, presents armed forces with a potent and affordable interceptor, addressing a significant capability gap in contemporary asymmetric conflict environments. Integrating the Bird of Prey into Airbus’ air defense battle management suite, IBMS, enhances its operational effectiveness.”
Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies, stated, “This development is a pivotal moment for modern air defense. Our collaboration with Airbus represents the inaugural integration of an innovative class of low-cost, mass-manufacturable interceptor missiles onto a drone, creating a new economic paradigm for air defense and enhancing capabilities against large-scale aerial threats.”
Bird of Prey Demo Flight – Releases Mark I missile
The demonstration flight occurred just nine months after the project’s inception. The Bird of Prey prototype, based on a modified Airbus Do-DT25 drone, boasts a wingspan of 2.5 metres, a length of 3.1 metres, and a maximum take-off weight of 160 kg. Although the prototype carried four Mark I air-to-air missiles, the operational variant is designed to accommodate up to eight. The high-subsonic, fire-and-forget missiles feature an engagement range of up to 1.5 kilometres, measure 65 centimetres in length, and weigh under 2 kg each, establishing them as the lightest guided interceptors produced to date. These missiles are equipped with a fragmentation warhead that effectively neutralizes targets at close range. This capability allows the reusable Bird of Prey to engage multiple kamikaze drones in a single mission at a relatively low cost per neutralization.
Designed to integrate seamlessly within NATO’s air defense architecture, the Bird of Prey operates through established command and control systems centered around Airbus’ Integrated Battle Management System (IBMS). As such, it serves as a crucial, highly mobile component of any layered air and missile defense solution against uncrewed aerial systems (UAS).
Throughout 2026, Airbus and Frankenburg will conduct further flights with a live warhead to enhance operational readiness and showcase the system’s full capabilities to prospective customers.
For video and image footage of the demonstration flight, click here.
Source: Airbus Defence and Space (2026-03-30)
