Saab and Airbus Collaboration: Two big European defense companies, Saab and Airbus, are talking about joining forces to build new unmanned combat aircraft. These drones would fly beside human pilots and help them in future battles. This idea is a lot like the US Air Force’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, which also uses smart drones that act like teammates in the sky.
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Leaders from both companies told Reuters in separate talks that they see a strong chance for teamwork. Some people in the industry say that if the two groups succeed with this first drone idea, they might grow the partnership even more
Many defense experts also think this plan might help Europe if the big Future Combat Air System program ends up failing. FCAS is a long and difficult project run by Airbus, Dassault Aviation, and Indra Sistemas. It aims to give Europe more independence in defense and to reduce how much Europe depends on US military tech.
Saab and Airbus Collaboration
Saab’s CEO Micael Johansson said the company already works side by side with Airbus on other systems. He gave an example and said Saab’s Arexis electronic warfare system is already inside German Eurofighter jets that Airbus builds. He also said that Saab and Airbus have talked about teaming up on new unmanned aircraft that can fly with today’s fighter jets. Johansson said Saab is also talking with other companies because the world of defense tech is changing so fast.
Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury agreed that the companies see a good chance to work together. He said Airbus has “good perspectives to continue to work with them on unmanned – that’s something that we are discussing with them, which is unrelated to FCAS.” He also explained that they want to stay open to what comes next. “We’ll see what the programme will look like in the future. But today, the discussions we’re having are directly between Airbus and Saab, unrelated to other problems,” Faury said.
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Interest in Drone Wingmen
Airbus has already shown it is serious about future drones. In 2024, it shared plans to give the Eurofighter Typhoon a new manned-unmanned teaming system. It also showed a “Wingman” drone design that can fly beside fighter jets and help with many jobs, like scouting or attacking targets. One year later, Airbus joined with the US company Kratos to offer the XQ-58A Valkyrie drone to Germany.
Other companies in Europe are doing similar things. Anduril is working with Rheinmetall, and General Dynamics is teaming up with General Atomics Aerotec Systems. All of them want to offer new CCA-style drones to European air forces.
