Airbus has unveiled its new U760 Ravenstorm unmanned cooperative combat aircraft, designed for air-to-air, air-to-ground and electronic warfare missions, at the ILA Berlin 2026 exhibition.
Airbus Defense and Space unveiled its new multi-role unmanned cooperative combat aircraft (UCCA), the U760 Ravenstorm, on the sidelines of the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Berlin. The company has also teamed up with Kratos to reveal the designation of a variant of the American-made XQ-58A Valkyrie, which is being applied to the European market as the U740 Valkyrie.
The Ravenstorm and Valkyrie are scheduled for delivery by the 2030s and 2029 respectively, with the latter being particularly prepared to work with the Luftwaffe’s Eurofighter. Airbus plans to fly two Valkyrie aircraft with European mission systems later this year before eventually pairing them with the German Eurofighter Typhoon in a manned-unmanned teaming (MUM-T) configuration.
The U760 appears to have been in the concept stage for some time, and has a completely different design and aesthetic than Airbus’ stealthy and loyal wingman UCAV, which was revealed in its 2024 iteration at ILA Berlin. The company hasn’t provided any updates on the latter, so the program’s status is unclear.
Compared to the 2024 mock-up of the stealth stalwart Wingman, the U760 features a more compact design while also maintaining the typical aerodynamic configuration seen on CCAs elsewhere. These programs are also largely independent of the collapsing Future Combat Air System (FCAS) as they service existing 4.5 and 5 generation aircraft such as the Typhoon and F-35.
As we have reported, work on drone systems and data networks supporting the Next Generation Fighter (NGF) as part of FCAS is expected to continue. It is possible that the U760 will be part of Airbus’ work in the ‘Remote Carrier’ component of the Next Generation programme.
At @ILA_Berlin, Airbus presents Europe’s most versatile drone portfolio for defense and security. Among them is the U760 Ravenstorm, the latest addition to our family of unmanned cooperative fighter aircraft. It will support fighter pilots in a variety of missions from an early age. pic.twitter.com/SitVROEbcE
— Airbus Defense (@AirbusDefence) June 9, 2026
U760 Ravenstorm
The U760 Ravenstorm features a top-mounted engine intake configuration similar to the YFQ-42A Dark Merlin and YFQ-48A Talon Blue CCA, and a shovel-shaped nose similar to the latter. The aircraft also has some similarities to the XQ-58A Valkyrie, which Airbus is already working on.
Conceptual representations show what appear to be sensor arrays on the sides and nose, but their nature is unclear. A 1:1 model shown at the exhibition shows two Meteor Beyond Visual-Range Air-to-Air Missiles (BVRAAM) next to the aircraft as a representative payload.
At this time, there is no definitive information about the weapon’s transport configuration, including whether the weapon will be transported internally or externally. Regarding size, Airbus says the display model has a wingspan of 10 meters and a length of 13 meters.
The U760 Ravenstorm (Figure 1), which debuted at this year’s #ILA2026, appears to be the latest version of the Wingman (Figure 2), which debuted at the same event in 2024, but is currently absent from Airbus’ drone portfolio presentation below. It’s sleek and not eye-catching, but… https://t.co/Q6ZppEnYkF pic.twitter.com/jsglDNz7AF
— Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) June 9, 2026
The company described the Ravenstorm as a “scalable” UCCA family that represents the roadmap for that aircraft category and said it could perform air-to-air, air-to-ground and electronic warfare missions. “Optimized for multi-domain missions, UCCA’s capabilities include air-to-ground attack using precision-guided munitions, air-to-air defense using long- and medium-range anti-aircraft missiles, and electronic warfare to suppress enemy air defenses and aggressive air attacks using non-kinetic jamming. Ravenstorm is scheduled for launch in the early 2030s,” Airbus said in a press release.
Interestingly, Ravenstorm, as Airbus notes, builds on experience accumulated since the EADS Barracuda demonstrator flew 20 years ago.
The company said, “Airbus is built on 20 years of UCCA experience, starting with the Barracuda demonstrator that first flew 20 years ago.” “This is a pioneering step in unmanned cooperative warfare, introducing design principles that have since shaped this type of capability. Airbus is pursuing a phased capability build to meet urgent operational UCCA requirements.”
FYI, it will not be lost on anyone how similar the Valkyrie is to the EADS (now Airbus Defense and Space) #Barracuda. An interesting case from history that, if not actually repeated, at least rhymes… pic.twitter.com/ay9BnkqKCo
— Gareth Jennings (@GarethJennings3) July 16, 2025
Meanwhile, integrated with Airbus’ proprietary Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) mission system, the Valkyrie is being developed to “provide the German Air Force with an operationally sovereign UCCA by 2029.” “This baseline phase will enable operational experimentation, initial air-to-ground capabilities, and teaming of the Valkyrie and Eurofighter,” the company added.
Germany has signed up for the Eurofighter Tranche 5 and is also a future customer for the F-35A Lightning II, with 35 airframes on order and 15 more under consideration. However, it is still unclear whether the U760 will be operated with American fighter jets.
future
With this debut, the U760 will become the fifth CCA to be launched in the European market and the second publicly available system developed indigenously by the continent’s defense industry, following the CA-1 Europa. Other systems currently in use in Europe are foreign systems such as the MQ-28A Ghost Bat, Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie (U740 variant) and the Turkish Kizilelma.
The MQ-28 and XQ-58 are also being considered by Germany, the latter being customized by Airbus in collaboration with Kratos, as mentioned earlier. Under the new contract, Kizilelma will be heavily customized with Leonardo’s mission system for the European market, but there is currently no information about possible customers.
