Airbus U740 Valkyrie unmanned fighter makes first flight in Northern Europe

The Airbus U740 Valkyrie completed its first flight on 12 October at a test site in Northern Europe.

The aircraft can perform rocket‑assisted takeoffs without a runway, fly at speeds up to Mach 0.8, and has a range of over 5 000 km. It is armed, features an internal weapons bay and can carry external payloads under the wings, measures 9.1 m in length with an 8.2 m wingspan, and has a maximum takeoff weight of about three tonnes.