Image: Airbus ©
Two Primoco uncrewed aerial vehicles completed live autonomous missions at an air show, marking the first public demonstration of collaborative UAV teaming at a major European trade event. Airbus Defence and Space powered the flight with its AI-enriched Multiplatform Autonomous Reconfigurable and Secure (MARS) Autonomy suite.
One brain, multiple drones
Traditional drone operations demand a dedicated operator for each aircraft, who steers the platform, manages the payload and watches the flight screen constantly. Airbus’s software-defined approach removes this burden. Instead of separate pilots issuing separate instructions, drones now share one distributed intelligence. Thomas Schmitt, Programme and Product Manager for Crewed-Uncrewed Teaming and Autonomy at Airbus Defence and Space, compared the system to a football team that plays instinctively toward a shared goal, without a coach directing every move.
During the demonstration, the UAVs performed two missions independently: teamed multi-role surveillance and accelerated-speed surveillance. Airbus plans to deploy the solution on Primoco One 150 UAVs from 2026, with the system-agnostic design allowing integration into other crewed or uncrewed platforms.
Human control retained
Operators shift from constant pilots to high-level mission managers under this model. The software handles routine tasks autonomously, but critical decisions still require human authorisation, as per a recent press statement.
Part of a wider mission system
MARS Autonomy sits within Airbus’s broader MARS Mission System, an open-architecture framework enabling continuous software updates, similar to smartphone app ecosystems. The system underpins Airbus’s Uncrewed Collaborative Combat Aircraft strategy, with integration planned on the Airbus U740 Valkyrie by 2029, teaming with the Eurofighter, followed by the fully sovereign Airbus U760 Ravenstorm by 2032.
Learn more on Airbus’ website
