[Above photo courtesy of Airbus.]

28 March 2025

From a 20-year-old "training dummy" design Airbus has produced an affordable, European-made strategy for intercepting kamikaze drone threats.

Called LOAD—for Low-Cost Air Defense—Airbus executives unveiled the anti-drone design at an unmanned systems trade show in Bonn, Germany, March 26, 2025.

LOAD was birthed from the Airbus Do-DT25—a cheap and disposable drone platform from the advent of the 2000s that was designed for target practice.

The "modded" LOAD version of this former training drone is anticipated to be armed with three guided missiles, have an operational range of 160 miles, travel at a top speed of 345 miles per hour, and a flight time of approximately one hour. Launched by a catapult, the LOAD drone is also expected to be reusable. Preliminary data states it can zoom back to base and touch down via a parachute.

A two-missile prototype is expected to be operational this year, and the final product looks to be in the air by 2027.

Airbus press materials state: "LOAD will be supervised from a ground control station. It will coordinate the drones on the basis of radar data or air-situation images and can therefore autonomously search for, detect and—following the approval of their engagement—combat enemy kamikaze drones. Airbus plans to integrate LOAD with other unmanned airborne platforms—such as our Eurodrone project—allowing LOAD to operate in regions not yet fully covered by ground-based air-defense radars.”

Interestingly, as Europe continues to diminish dependence on America, the new LOAD drone will contain no technology from the United States. The system is also expected to be free from the International Traffic in Arms Regulations imposed by Washington, leaving future export decisions solely to European user nations.