Aerial Drones & UAV Systems
UAVs, loitering munitions and the systems that fly them — from tactical quadcopters to long-endurance platforms.
Interceptor drone Jäger: Quantum Systems shows Söder and Blume a drone with solid-fuel rocket motor
Four kilometres of altitude in 30 seconds, unit cost below 10,000 euros: during the Bavarian state government's visit to Gilching, Quantum Systems presented its new interceptor drone Jäger/Hunter for protecting critical infrastructure.
MQ-9B Sky Guardian: Belgian Armed Forces commission General Atomics drones at Florennes
Ceremony at Florennes Air Base: with the commissioning of the MQ-9B Sky Guardian, the new infrastructure for drone operations there also goes live – control stations, maintenance, training and command and control in one place.
Kizilelma combat drone: Bayraktar Kizilelma hits both targets in first live-fire weapons test
Baykar reports the first live-fire weapons test of its Kizilelma combat drone as a success: prototype PT-3 fired munitions from Aselsan and Roketsan at Tekirdağ. The aircraft is due to enter active service with the Turkish Armed Forces in 2026.
Kamikaze drones for Kosovo: Serbian President Vučić attacks Turkey
Turkey has delivered thousands of Skydagger kamikaze drones to Kosovo. Belgrade sees this as a breach of UN resolutions, and President Aleksandar Vučić speaks of dreams of reviving the Ottoman Empire.
Unmanned systems: the Netherlands calls on industry to join APOS drone offensive
With the APOS action plan, The Hague wants more unmanned systems to be developed and built in the Netherlands. Start-ups and other national companies can take part in the call for proposals until 29 October.
Loitering munition: Rheinmetall ramps up series production of the Hero family in Sardinia
Rheinmetall is building Hero loitering munition models in Musei and Domusnovas, Sardinia, in cooperation with UVision. The order backlog exceeds 200 million euros; the company also offers reconnaissance drones and counter-drone systems.
Drone test area over the North Sea: the Netherlands creates airspace for BVLOS flights
A permanent drone test area is to be established between Katwijk and the Port of Rotterdam, with operations starting from Unmanned Valley. State Secretary Gijs Tuinman has signed a cooperation agreement; first test flights are planned for the end of 2026.
Counter-UAS for military sites: BAAINBw and Tytan Technologies develop interceptor drone demonstrator
Munich-based Tytan Technologies is contributing AI-enabled interceptor drones to a Bundeswehr counter-UAS project. Supported by the innovation lab in Erding, a system demonstration is to show how military sites can be protected against UAS.
VTOL drones: Sikorsky officially unveils unmanned Nomad family
From a 25-kilogram system up to the size of a Black Hawk: Sikorsky is scaling its rotor-blown wing drones into the Nomad family of VTOL drones. Next up is the maiden flight of the Nomad 100, controlled by Matrix autonomy technology.
Loitering munition Harpax: MBDA Italia unveils new family for the Italian Army
Premiere at “Seafuture 2025”: MBDA Italia presents Harpax, a loitering munition for multi-domain operations. The Mini and Small variants were developed with Italian SMEs and had already been shown at “Volpe Bianca 2025”.
Reconnaissance drones to replace the DJI Mavic: Ukraine receives 1,000 units from domestic production
In the war in Ukraine, DJI tactical reconnaissance drones were long almost irreplaceable, and since 2023 China has restricted access to them. Now a first Ukrainian manufacturer has delivered 1,000 drones to the army – along with figures on frontline demand.
Interceptor drone A1-Falke: Bundeswehr shows Argus Interception system at NATO exercise in Hamburg
At “Red Storm Bravo” in Hamburg, the spotlight was on the A1-Falke interceptor drone: the Bundeswehr presented the net-capture system from Argus Interception that it has only just taken over. 160 systems are to be delivered by 2027.
Drone swarms for Europe: Helsing and Systematic form partnership
AI-enabled drone swarms are to be deployed directly from existing command systems in future: Helsing is integrating its platforms into Systematic Sitaware, which is used by more than 50 nations – including Austria.