Kratos XQ-58 Valkyrie

South Korea continues to advance its sovereign high-end capabilities with the first test of a new hypersonic glide vehicle that demonstrated booster separation and maneuvering.

As we discussed on the AirPower podcast, Europe continues its march toward collaborative combat aircraft With the test of a Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, Airbus conducted the test to develop mission systems and Eurofighter teaming.

They think Germany will want about 500 CCAs for about 20 million euros each.

Britain is preparing to release its new budget that balances means and ends, including military spending, as France is gripped by massive nationwide protests about the cost of living and social issues that sadly turned violent.

Aviationsoul.com. Now, Airbus and Kratos Defense, two companies that don't often appear in the same sentence.

They just completed a joint test flight of the Valkyrie uncrewed aircraft in Europe, and here's what you need to know about why that matters beyond the press release.

The Valkyrie, the XQ-58A, if you want its full designation, is a Kratos platform that the United States Air Force has been testing since two thousand and nineteen.

It's designed as what the military calls a loyal wingman, an autonomous aircraft that flies alongside crewed fighters, expanding what a single-man aircraft can do in a contested environment.

Think of it as a drone with a tactical brain and a very flat price tag relative to what it can do.

Let me put some numbers to this so the picture is clear.

The Valkyrie is roughly twenty-nine feet long, wingspan of twenty-seven feet.

It can carry internal weapons or sensors, and it's built to be what the defense industry calls attritable.