Low-cost kamikaze drones (one-way attack UAVs), which have become the greatest threat on modern battlefields, now face a much more agile and economical adversary. Aerospace giant Airbus, in collaboration with defense tech start-up Frankenburg Technologies, has successfully completed the first demonstration flight of the Bird of Prey interceptor drone at a military training area in northern Germany.

Developed in just nine months, this system is poised to change the rules of asymmetric warfare.

Autonomous Detection and Neutralization: Bird of Prey Takes Flight

During the test flight conducted under a realistic mission scenario, the Bird of Prey searched, detected, and classified a medium-sized kamikaze drone entirely autonomously. Following successful identification, the system launched a Mark Iair-to-air missile developed by Frankenburg Technologies, successfully neutralizing the target.

Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, emphasized that defending against kamikaze drones is a tactical priority in the current geopolitical landscape:

“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. The integration of Bird of Prey into Airbus’ Integrated Battle Management System (IBMS) acts as a force multiplier.”

Technical Specifications: Lightweight, Lethal, and Reusable

Built upon a modified Airbus Do-DT25 drone, the Bird of Prey prototype stands out with its technical capabilities. The operational version of the system is specifically designed to counter swarm attacks:

• Dimensions: 2.5-meter wingspan and 3.1-meter length.
• Weight: 160 kg maximum take-off weight.
• Ammunition Capacity: While the prototype carries 4 missiles, the production version will be capable of carrying up to 8 Mark I missiles.
• Mark I Missile: Weighing only 2 kg and measuring 65 cm in length, these missiles hold the title of the lightest guided interceptors developed to date. Featuring an engagement range of up to 1.5 kilometers, these “fire-and-forget” missiles use a fragmentation warhead to neutralize targets at close proximity.

Cost-Effective Defense Line

The system’s greatest advantage is its economic sustainability. Instead of spending million-dollar air defense missiles to take down drones worth only a few thousand dollars, Bird of Prey can neutralize multiple targets in a single mission and return to base for reloading. This shifts the “cost-per-kill” balance in favor of the defender.

NATO Integration and Future Vision

Bird of Prey is designed to operate seamlessly within NATO’s integrated air defense architecture via Airbus’ Integrated Battle Management System (IBMS). This allows it to serve as a mobile and complementary building block for layered air and missile defense solutions.

Kusti Salm, CEO of Frankenburg Technologies, highlighted that this partnership marks a turning point in modern air defense, stating that these new mass-manufacturable, low-cost missiles will enable defense against aerial threats at a fundamentally different scale.