How Airbus Has Become Europe's Alliance-Scale Integrator

Civil jets, defence systems and sovereign constellations How Airbus Has Become Europe's Alliance-Scale Integrator

2026-07-20 From Filipe Martins and Anna Kobylinska/Maria Beyer-Fistrich 14 min Reading Time

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Airbus heads into the second half of the decade in a position that—when it comes to major procurement calls—no other European aerospace enterprise has ever occupied. Sitting right at the junction of civil fleets, defence platforms and sovereign space, it is becoming almost unavoidable.

Kratos XQ 58A Valkyrie, a stealthy unmanned combat high subsonic UAV being integrated into European concepts for “loyal wingman” drones working alongside crewed jets, with Airbus as a key partner.(Source: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH) — Kratos XQ 58A Valkyrie, a stealthy unmanned combat high subsonic UAV being integrated into European concepts for “loyal wingman” drones working alongside crewed jets, with Airbus as a key partner.
(Source: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH)

From Manching’s Eurofighter line to the Ludwig Bölkow Campus spanning Ottobrunn and Taufkirchen (both located in Germany), the group has turned Bavaria into the engine room of Europe’s next‑generation air and space capabilities. It is thus no surprise that this region should host Airbus’s first Defence Summit.

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