{"id":27771947,"date":"2026-10-12T16:29:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/airbus-u740-valkyrie-first-flight-europe-kratos-cca\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T16:30:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T14:30:38","slug":"airbus-u740-valkyrie-first-flight-europe-kratos-cca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/airbus-u740-valkyrie-first-flight-europe-kratos-cca\/","title":{"rendered":"Airbus U740 Valkyrie: First Flight for Europe&#8217;s Combat Drone"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\r\n<!-- mfsh:top -->\r\n\r\n<style>\r\n.mfsh-trigger{display:inline-flex;align-items:center;gap:10px;height:44px;padding:0 18px;margin:0 0 26px;border:2px solid 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No runway. No pilot. No ladder, no canopy, no crew bus.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The aircraft is the Airbus U740 Valkyrie, and it has just become the first of its kind to fly on this side of the Atlantic. Airbus Defence and Space supplies the brain; Kratos Defense &amp; Security Solutions of San Diego supplies the airframe. Between them they are aiming at a date that now appears in every European defence planning document worth reading: 2029, when a German <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/eurofighter-typhoon\/\">Eurofighter Typhoon<\/a> is supposed to be able to take uncrewed aircraft into a fight alongside it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Airbus says the flight met every objective it was set. That is a modest sentence, and for a first flight it is the correct one. What it quietly concedes is more interesting: the part of this aircraft that Europe actually built was not aboard.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f5f6f8;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:18px 22px;margin:26px 0\">\r\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#0d1117;font-size:17px\">Quick Facts: Airbus U740 Valkyrie<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>First flight:<\/strong> 12 October 2026, test facility in northern Europe (site not disclosed)<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Partners:<\/strong> Airbus Defence and Space (mission system) and Kratos Defense &amp; Security Solutions (airframe)<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Length \/ wingspan:<\/strong> 9.1 m \/ 8.2 m<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Maximum take-off weight:<\/strong> about 3 tonnes<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Range:<\/strong> more than 5,000 km<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Service ceiling:<\/strong> 45,000 ft<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Speed reached on the first flight:<\/strong> Mach 0.8<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Launch:<\/strong> rocket-assisted and runway-independent; conventional runway take-off and landing offered as an option<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Weapons:<\/strong> internal bay plus external stations under the wings<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Mission system:<\/strong> MARS, not fitted for this flight<\/p>\r\n<p style=\"margin:3px 0;font-size:15px\"><strong>Target:<\/strong> combat-ready collaborative combat aircraft by 2029<\/p>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">A Launch Rail Instead of a Runway<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The most consequential thing in the Airbus photograph is not the aircraft. It is what is missing underneath it. The U740 leaves the ground on a rocket booster from a rail, and the booster drops away once the aircraft is flying. Airbus lists that runway-independent take-off first among the capabilities the flight demonstrated, ahead of the manoeuvring and the speed.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>There is a reason it goes first. A 3,000-metre strip of reinforced concrete is the most predictable target in modern warfare. It cannot be moved, it cannot be hidden, its coordinates have been known for decades, and every serious air force in Europe has spent the last three years staring at satellite imagery of cratered runways in Ukraine and Russia and drawing the obvious conclusion. An aircraft that does not need one can be dispersed to a car park, a forest road or the back of a lorry.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>Airbus has not abandoned the runway entirely. The company says conventional take-off and landing remains an option on the type, which matters a great deal for training, for ferrying and for the simple economics of not throwing away an airframe at the end of every sortie.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TZtpoB5bCUc\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:-10px;font-style:italic\">Airbus Defence and Space introduces the Valkyrie and the role it is meant to fill alongside crewed fighters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The language Airbus uses around all of this is worth noting, because it is the language of a company selling quantity rather than exquisiteness.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;In an increasingly complex and contested threat environment, air forces require affordable combat mass&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Mike Schoellhorn<\/strong> &mdash; CEO of Airbus Defence and Space, in the company statement announcing the first flight, 12 October 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>Affordable combat mass is the entire argument for this class of aircraft. A <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-35-lightning-ii\/\">F-35 Lightning II<\/a> is an extraordinary machine and there will never be enough of them. Something that costs a fraction as much, carries a weapon or a sensor, and is cheap enough to lose changes the arithmetic of a contested airspace without changing the fighter fleet at all.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Airframe Is American<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Strip away the European framing and the U740 Valkyrie is a familiar shape. Kratos supplies the airframe, and Airbus and Kratos have been open that this is a collaboration rather than a clean-sheet European design. The published dimensions make the lineage plain enough: 9.1 metres long, 8.2 metres in span, around three tonnes at maximum take-off weight, a 45,000-foot ceiling. Those are the numbers of the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, which first flew at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona on 5 March 2019.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/xq-58a-valkyrie-inaugural-flight-yuma-2019.jpg\" alt=\"Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator AF 58-001 in flight over the Arizona desert\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">The Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator on its inaugural flight at Yuma Proving Ground, 5 March 2019. The planform, the dimensions and the ceiling are the ones Airbus now publishes for the U740. Photo: U.S. Air Force<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<p>The XQ-58A came out of an Air Force Research Laboratory programme with an unlovely name, the Low Cost Attritable Strike Demonstrator, and a blunt premise: build something good enough to be useful and cheap enough that losing it is a budget line rather than a disaster. Kratos built it, flew it, and then watched the U.S. Air Force decide the airframe was too small for its own Collaborative Combat Aircraft competition, which went to General Atomics and Anduril.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The U.S. Marine Corps went the other way. In January 2026 the Marines selected Northrop Grumman and Kratos to develop their first operational collaborative combat aircraft, and the XQ-58 has been flying in Marine markings for some time, including alongside crewed fighters.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/usmc-xq-58a-valkyrie-f-16-eglin-first-flight.jpg\" alt=\"A U.S. Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie flying in formation with a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">A U.S. Marine Corps XQ-58A Valkyrie flies its first test sortie with a 96th Test Wing <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/aircraft\/f-16-fighting-falcon\/\">F-16 Fighting Falcon<\/a> at Eglin Air Force Base. The crewed-uncrewed pairing is the whole point of the category. Photo: U.S. Marine Corps<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<p>So Europe has not bought a design study. It has bought an airframe with flight hours on it, which is precisely why the timeline is 2029 rather than the middle of the next decade. Airbus announced the partnership in July 2025; by April 2026 Airbus had two XQ-58A airframes at Manching in Bavaria.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"background:#f8f9fa;border-left:4px solid #1565c0;padding:20px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px;font-size:16px;line-height:1.7;display:flex;gap:20px;align-items:flex-start\"><div><em>&ldquo;First flights typically include plenty of learning opportunities&rdquo;<\/em><div style=\"margin-top:10px;font-size:14px;color:#555\"><strong>Eric DeMarco<\/strong> &mdash; President and CEO of Kratos Defense &amp; Security Solutions, in the joint statement on the first flight, 12 October 2026<\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p>DeMarco went on to call this one an amazing success given how mature the system already is. He has reason to. Most of the learning happened over Arizona seven years ago.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">MARS Is the Part Europe Actually Owns<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>If the airframe is American, the argument for the whole programme rests on what Airbus puts inside it. That is MARS, which stands for Multi-platform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure, and which Airbus describes as the aircraft&rsquo;s European brain.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The claim being made is a sovereignty claim rather than a performance claim. Airbus says MARS gives control of the software, the mission applications, the data and the system hardware, and that this is what allows German and European sovereignty over how the aircraft is used. In plain terms: nobody in Washington gets a veto, a licence condition or a software key over how a Luftwaffe aircraft flies a mission. Europe has spent two decades learning what export-controlled source code feels like from the receiving end, and this is the answer to it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>MARS uses what Airbus calls AI-enhanced software to run missions autonomously and to coordinate whole formations rather than single aircraft. Airbus is equally clear that a strict control hierarchy keeps a person on the loop for anything that matters, bound by rules of engagement and by legal and ethical limits. Kratos and Airbus both stressed that the chain of command is not handed over wholesale to software.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\" style=\"margin:0 0 24px;width:100%\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" width=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/10\/german-air-force-eurofighter-typhoon-31-06.jpg\" alt=\"German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon EF2000 serial 31 plus 06 in tiger markings, climbing away\" style=\"width:100%;height:auto;max-width:100%;display:block\"><figcaption style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:6px;font-style:italic\">Luftwaffe Eurofighter Typhoon 31+06. From 2029 the aircraft the U740 is meant to work for is this one, and the pairing is the reason the programme exists. Photo: Wikimedia Commons \/ CC BY 4.0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n<p>Here is the catch, and Airbus states it plainly rather than burying it: MARS was not integrated for Monday&rsquo;s flight. The aircraft that flew was the airframe and its basic flight control, not the system that makes it a collaborative combat aircraft rather than a target drone. The follow-on test campaign, under harder conditions and with MARS fully integrated, is the one that will actually prove the concept.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What Happens When It Meets a Eurofighter<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>The design brief is not subtle. The U740 is meant to fly either on its own or under the direction of a crewed fighter, take on the sorties nobody wants to send a pilot into, and keep the crewed aircraft alive. Schoellhorn framed it as giving aircraft like the Eurofighter more reach, more firepower and better odds of coming home.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That shopping list is specific. More reach, because an aircraft with 5,000 kilometres of range can be pushed far ahead of the formation to look at something. More firepower, because the internal bay and the underwing stations carry weapons the Typhoon then does not have to carry itself. Better survivability, because the first thing sent into a defended area is the one that can be written off, rather than the one with a person in it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>It also fits a pattern. Airbus already has a U-series of uncrewed types in various stages of life, including the U760 Ravenstorm unveiled at ILA Berlin and the U050 Capa-X that France has ordered. The U740 is the armed, fast, jet-powered end of that family, and the only one whose airframe already has years of flight testing behind it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:56.25%;height:0;overflow:hidden;margin:24px 0\"><iframe class=\"skip-lazy\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/QrJmG1g4mFI\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;border:0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\r\n\r\n<p style=\"font-size:13px;color:#777;text-align:center;margin-top:-10px;font-style:italic\">The Air Force Research Laboratory&rsquo;s film of the XQ-58A demonstrator&rsquo;s inaugural flight in March 2019, including the rail launch that the European aircraft repeated on Monday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">What a First Flight Does Not Prove<\/h2>\r\n\r\n<p>Mach 0.8, a handful of altitude changes and a successful rail launch are the opening paragraph of a flight test programme, not the conclusion. No weapon was released. No formation was flown. The autonomy software that is the entire European contribution was not fitted. The aircraft did what a well-understood airframe with seven years of American flight testing behind it ought to do.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>That is not a criticism, it is the point. Airbus did not need to find out whether the aeroplane flies. It needed a European-registered example in the air, under a European test authority, with a European industrial team around it, so the 2029 date stops being a slide and starts being a schedule. On Monday it got one.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>The harder question is the one the Air Force Research Laboratory already answered once and the U.S. Air Force answered the other way: is three tonnes enough aeroplane? Washington decided it was not, and bought something larger. Berlin has decided that an aircraft you can afford in numbers, launch from a layby and lose without a board of inquiry is worth more than one that carries everything. Both answers are defensible. Only one of them will be flying with a Eurofighter in three years.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><em>Sources: Airbus Defence and Space press release, 12 October 2026; Kratos Defense &amp; Security Solutions joint statement; European Security &amp; Defence; aeroTELEGRAPH; U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory; U.S. Marine Corps.<\/em><\/p>\r\n<!-- mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n<button type=\"button\" class=\"mfsh-trigger mfsh-bottom\" data-mfsh-placement=\"bottom\" aria-haspopup=\"dialog\"><svg><use href=\"#mfsh-i-share\"\/><\/svg>Share this story<\/button>\r\n\r\n<!-- \/mfsh:bottom -->\r\n\r\n\r\n<style>.mfq{margin:34px 0 8px}.mfq h2{font:26px\/1.3 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117;padding-top:22px;margin:0 0 6px}.mfq .qa details{border-top:1px solid #5C91FF;margin:0;padding:0}.mfq .qa details:last-of-type{border-bottom:1px solid #e2e7ee}.mfq .qa summary{cursor:pointer;list-style:none;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;align-items:center;gap:16px;padding:22px 26px;font:18px\/1.7 \"Gilroy semiBold\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#0d1117}.mfq .qa summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mfq .qa summary::after{content:\"+\";font:24px Helvetica,sans-serif;color:#3568e0;flex:0 0 auto}.mfq .qa details[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mfq .qa details:hover summary{color:#3568e0}.mfq .qa .a{font:16px\/1.7 \"Gilroy regular\",Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;color:#454e5e;padding:0 26px 24px}.mfq .qa .a a{color:#3568e0}@media(max-width:680px){.mfq .qa summary{padding:18px 14px;font-size:17px}.mfq .qa .a{padding:0 14px 20px}}<\/style>\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"mfq\"><h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2><div class=\"qa\"><details open><summary>What is the Airbus U740 Valkyrie?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The Airbus U740 Valkyrie is an uncrewed combat aircraft developed by Airbus Defence and Space with Kratos Defense &amp; Security Solutions. Kratos supplies the airframe and Airbus supplies the MARS mission system. It is designed to fly autonomously or under the direction of a crewed fighter such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, and Airbus aims to have it combat-ready by 2029.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>When did the Airbus U740 Valkyrie make its first flight?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The U740 Valkyrie made its first European flight on 12 October 2026 at a test facility in northern Europe that Airbus has not named. Airbus says the flight met all its objectives, including a runway-independent rocket-assisted take-off, manoeuvres at several altitudes, speeds up to Mach 0.8, and in-flight mission changes.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>How fast and how far can the Airbus U740 Valkyrie fly?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Airbus gives the U740 Valkyrie a range of more than 5,000 kilometres and a service ceiling of 45,000 feet. The aircraft reached Mach 0.8 on its first flight. It is 9.1 metres long with an 8.2-metre wingspan and a maximum take-off weight of about three tonnes.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Is the Airbus U740 Valkyrie the same aircraft as the Kratos XQ-58A?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">They share an airframe. Kratos supplies the airframe for the U740, and the dimensions, weight and ceiling Airbus publishes match the Kratos XQ-58A Valkyrie, which first flew at Yuma Proving Ground on 5 March 2019. What Airbus adds is the MARS mission system, which is European-controlled rather than American.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>What is the MARS mission system on the U740 Valkyrie?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">MARS stands for Multi-platform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure. Airbus calls it the aircraft&rsquo;s European brain. It uses AI-enhanced software to run missions autonomously and coordinate formations, and Airbus says it gives European control over the software, data and hardware. MARS was not fitted for the first flight and will be tested later.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Does a human stay in control of the U740 Valkyrie?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">Yes. Airbus and Kratos both say a strict control hierarchy keeps a person on the loop for critical decisions, which must comply with rules of engagement and with legal and ethical standards. The aircraft can fly a mission autonomously, but the companies state that the chain of command is not handed over entirely to software.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Why can the U740 Valkyrie take off without a runway?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">The U740 Valkyrie launches from a rail using a rocket booster, so it does not need a prepared runway. That matters because runways are fixed, well-mapped targets that cannot be moved or hidden. Airbus says conventional runway take-off and landing remains available as an option on the type.<\/div><\/details><details><summary>Will the U740 Valkyrie fly with the Eurofighter?<\/summary><div class=\"a\">That is the plan. Airbus intends the U740 Valkyrie to operate alongside crewed fighters such as the Eurofighter Typhoon from 2029, flying high-risk missions and protecting the crewed aircraft. Airbus CEO Mike Schoellhorn says the aircraft is meant to give fighters like the Typhoon greater range, firepower and survivability.<\/div><\/details><\/div><\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What is the Airbus U740 Valkyrie?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Airbus U740 Valkyrie is an uncrewed combat aircraft developed by Airbus Defence and Space with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions. 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Airbus CEO Mike Schoellhorn says the aircraft is meant to give fighters like the Typhoon greater range, firepower and survivability.\"}}]}<\/script><div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border-left:4px solid #5C91FF;padding:16px 20px;margin:32px 0 8px\"><p style=\"margin:0 0 8px;font-weight:600;color:#333\">Related Posts<\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/airbus-u760-ravenstorm-loyal-wingman-ila-berlin\/\">Ravenstorm: Airbus Enters the Robot-Wingman Race<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/kratos-xq-58-valkyrie-landing-gear-production-dugway-crash-2026\/\">The Robot Wingman Grows Landing Gear &mdash; and Crashes<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/germanys-loyal-wingman-race-heats-up\/\">Germany&rsquo;s Loyal Wingman Race Heats Up<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/france-airbus-u050-capa-x-drone-order-sdtl-2026\/\">France Orders Eight Airbus U050 Capa-X Drones<\/a><\/p><p style=\"margin:4px 0\"><a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/afterburner\/loyal-wingman-cca-drones-farnborough-2026-explained\/\">Every Robot Wingman Unveiled This Week<\/a><\/p><\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Share this story Somewhere over northern Europe on Monday morning, a slim grey wedge with no cockpit sat on a launch rail, lit a rocket booster and went flying. No runway. No pilot. No ladder, no canopy, no crew bus. The aircraft is the Airbus U740 Valkyrie, and it has just become the first of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":27771249,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[664,670],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27771947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-military-aviation","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Airbus U740 Valkyrie: First Flight in Europe | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Airbus and Kratos flew the U740 Valkyrie in Europe for the first time on 12 October 2026. 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