An Airbus spokesperson told Breaking Defense that the partnership, featuring Kratos’s XQ-58A Valkyrie paired with Airbus-provided mission systems, is “offer[ing] our German customer something we believe they have a requirement for in the coming years.”
After refueling with the American company Metrea for a deployment to the Indo-Pacific, the German Luftwaffe told Breaking Defense that "commercial AAR [air-to-air refueling] is also a valid option for future deployments.”
Balancing security and access to data are critical to providing users with trustworthy, reliable data for real-time decisions.
"Discussions are starting in a very early phase, but it's apparent that three aircraft is not sufficient," said Jürgen Halder, vice president of airborne SIGINT at Hensoldt.
Under the terms of the co-operation agreement, Airbus intends on providing “its expertise in the interaction of unmanned and manned military aircraft,” while Helsing will “contribute its AI stack of relevant software-defined mission capabilities."