Successful first demo flight: Airbus’ uncrewed Bird of Prey interceptor autonomously engages kamikaze drone with Frankenburg missile

The Airbus ‘Bird of Prey’ interceptor drone successfully completed its first demonstration flight at a military training area in northern Germany. In a realistic mission scenario, it autonomously searched, detected and classified a medium-sized one-way attack (kamikaze) drone. After successful identification, the Bird of Prey interceptor engaged the target with a Mark I air-to-air missile developed by defence tech start-up partner Frankenburg Technologies.

“Against the current geopolitical and military backdrop, defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled,” said Mike Schoellhorn, CEO Airbus Defence and Space. “With our Bird of Prey and Frankenburg’s affordable Mark I missiles, we are providing armed forces with an effective, cost-efficient interceptor, filling a crucial capability gap in today’s asymmetric conflict theatres. The integration of Bird of Prey into Airbus’ air defence battle management suite IBMS acts as a force multiplier.”

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Originally published on 30 Mar

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Babcock and Frankenburg launch ambitious effort to deploy a next‑generation counter‑drone system

British aerospace and defence firm Babcock and Estonian defence company Frankenburg Technologies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly explore the creation of a new and affordable air‑defence solution, prompted by the growing threat posed by one‑way attack drones.

As part of the MoU, Babcock will develop a cost-effective, containerised platform for launching Frankenburg’s new low-cost missiles, which it is manufacturing at pace, specifically to defend against one-way attack drones.

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Originally published on 15 Jan

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