Airbus Drone Intercept Test: Airbus has shown a new anti-drone system that is made to stop dangerous attack drones in the air. On 30 March, the European company said its aircraft, which is a changed version of the Do-DT25 target drone, took part in a recent test and attacked an aerial target with a Mark I missile made by Estonian start-up Frankenburg Technologies. Airbus said the test happened in northern Germany and marked an important step for this project, which started only nine months ago.
During the trial, the aircraft worked on its own in the sky. Airbus said it “autonomously searched [for], detected and classified a medium-sized, one-way attack drone”. After the system understood what it was seeing, it moved to the next step. The company said, “After successful identification, the Bird of Prey interceptor engaged the target with a Mark I missile,” and added that the demo happened “just nine months after the project started”.
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How the Bird of Prey and Mark I Missile Work
The aircraft used in the test is called Bird of Prey. It is launched from a rail and is built to go after one-way attack drones, which are also often called kamikaze drones. Airbus says the vehicle has a maximum take-off weight of 160kg and a wingspan of 2.5m. The prototype used in the demo carried four Mark I air-to-air missiles, but Airbus says the real operational model is planned to carry up to eight. That would let it go after several drones in one mission instead of just one target.
The Mark I missile is very small compared to many normal air defence weapons. It weighs less than 2kg and is about 65cm long. It carries a fragmentation warhead and can hit targets at a range of up to 1.5km. The missile is also described as a fire-and-forget weapon, which means it does not need constant guidance after launch. Airbus and other reports say it flies at high-subsonic speed. Frankenburg chief executive Kusti Salm called it “a new class of low-cost, mass-manufacturable interceptor missile… creating a new cost curve for air defence”.
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Airbus Drone Intercept Test Importance
Airbus says the need for this kind of system is urgent because cheap attack drones are being used more and more in war. These drones can cause serious damage, but the missiles used to destroy them are often much more expensive than the target itself. In many cases, forces are using air defence weapons that can cost more than $1 million to stop drones worth only tens of thousands of dollars. That cost problem is one big reason why companies are now trying to build smaller and cheaper interceptors.
Mike Schoellhorn, chief executive of Airbus Defence & Space, said, “Defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority that urgently needs to be tackled,”. He also said the new setup gives militaries “a cost-effective interceptor, filling a crucial capability gap in today’s asymmetric conflict theatres”. Airbus believes this system could become an important part of a larger air and missile defence network, especially because it is mobile and can work alongside other defence layers.
