POLARIS Spaceplanes completes maiden flight of COBRA UAV

German aerospace developer POLARIS Spaceplanes has completed the maiden flight of its COBRA uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) prototype. During the initial test, the aircraft covered a distance exceeding 20 km, validating its aerodynamic structures and flight-control systems.

Developed under the AirLAS (Airborne Launching and Strike System) initiative in collaboration with Diehl Defence, the COBRA platform has a maximum take-off mass of over 600 kg. The vehicle is designed to serve as a mobile air-defense platform by integrating and air-launching Diehl’s IRIS-T series of air-to-air missiles. This capability aims to increase operational flexibility by moving launch capabilities from stationary ground locations to a flying platform, targeting helicopters, drones, cruise missiles, or manned aircraft.

The COBRA project is a spin-off of POLARIS’s research into reusable, delta-wing hypersonic spaceplanes. Additional test sorties are scheduled in the coming months to expand the vehicle’s operational flight envelope.