On March 30, 2026, Airbus’ uncrewed Bird of Prey interceptor drone successfully completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In the demonstration, the drone autonomously searched for, detected, and classified a medium-sized kamikaze (one-way attack) drone before engaging it with a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by Frankenburg Technologies. The Bird of Prey prototype is based on a modified Airbus Do-DT25 drone, featuring a wingspan of 2.5 meters, length of 3.1 meters, and maximum take-off weight of 160 kg. It carried two Mark I missiles in the demo, with future operational versions planned to carry up to eight. Mark I is a high-subsonic, fire-and-forget missile with a 1.5 km range, weighing under 2 kg, equipped with a fragmentation warhead optimized for neutralizing short-range UAS threats. The system integrates with NATO’s air defense through Airbus’ Integrated Battle Management System (IBMS), contributing a cost-effective, reusable counter-UAS capability. Airbus and Frankenburg plan further flights with live warheads in 2026 to operationalize the system and demonstrate it to potential customers.

On March 30, 2026, Airbus’ uncrewed Bird of Prey interceptor drone successfully completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In the demonstration, the drone autonomously searched for, detected, and classified a medium-sized kamikaze (one-way attack) drone before engaging it with a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by Frankenburg Technologies. The Bird of Prey prototype is based on a modified Airbus Do-DT25 drone, featuring a wingspan of 2.5 meters, length of 3.1 meters, and maximum take-off weight of 160 kg. It carried two Mark I missiles in the demo, with future operational versions planned to carry up to eight. Mark I is a high-subsonic, fire-and-forget missile with a 1.5 km range, weighing under 2 kg, equipped with a fragmentation warhead optimized for neutralizing short-range UAS threats. The system integrates with NATO’s air defense through Airbus’ Integrated Battle Management System (IBMS), contributing a cost-effective, reusable counter-UAS capability. Airbus and Frankenburg plan further flights with live warheads in 2026 to operationalize the system and demonstrate it to potential customers.