Airbus unveils the European drone equipped with missiles for air defense

Airbus has unveiled the new European drone, based on a small unmanned aircraft used for training over 20 years ago. LOAD (Low-Cost Air Defence) is the new "anti-drone drone" designed to tackle one of the key challenges of modern air defense: reducing the interception costs of low-cost drones with high-cost traditional systems.

The drone's design was announced on March 26 during a fair dedicated to unmanned systems in Bonn, Germany. The project is based on the Do-DT25, a platform developed in the early 2000s and used as an aerial target for shooting exercises. For this reason, it was designed to be "cheap and expendable".

Reusable and armed with guided missiles

The new UAV military anti-drone drone developed by Airbus will be able to carry up to three guided missiles, with an operational range of 100 km. Launch will occur via catapult, and at the end of the mission, the aircraft will return to base landing with a parachute, ready for a new operation.

A prototype with two missiles is expected to fly by the end of the year, while the final version is planned for 2027.

Although specific technical details for LOAD have not been provided, the Do-DT25 on which it is based has a length of 3.1 meters, a wingspan of 2.5 meters, can reach a maximum speed of 300 knots (about 555 km/h), and remain in flight for about one hour.

Assisted autonomy and anti-drone capabilities

According to Airbus promotional material, LOAD will position itself midway between a loitering munition and an air combat drone. It will be controlled by a ground command station and will be able to coordinate with other drones using radar data and airspace images, to search, detect, and — with authorization — autonomously engage enemy kamikaze drones.

Concerns about autonomy, but concrete progress

In recent years, several experts have expressed concerns about the increasing use of autonomy in weapon systems, raising doubts about the actual effectiveness of guarantees of maintaining human control in attack decisions, as stated by Airbus in the case of LOAD.

The autonomous capabilities promised for this drone seem to derive from the experience accumulated with the Do-DT25 platform. Already in March 2023, Airbus had successfully demonstrated the autonomous guidance and control of multiple DT-25 drones, managed by an A310 MRTT tanker aircraft. The experiment highlighted significant progress in relative navigation, in-flight communication, and cooperative control algorithms.

Integration with Eurodrone and technological independence

As the next step, Airbus plans to integrate LOAD with other unmanned aerial platforms, such as the Eurodrone, making it operational even in areas not covered by ground defense radars.

Consistent with the European goal of reducing dependence on the United States, Airbus emphasized that the new drone does not contain U.S. technology, resulting in exemption from ITAR regulations (International Traffic in Arms Regulations). This will allow the export of the system without constraints imposed by Washington, leaving decisions exclusively to the European user nations.