POLARIS Raumflugzeuge has completed the first flight of its Cobra 600 prototype, a reusable unmanned aircraft developed with Diehl Defence under the AirLAS project. The jet-powered carrier covered about 20 km in the test, which took place over the Baltic Sea, and the company described the sortie as a perfectly smooth first flight.
The programme is intended to carry and launch IRIS-T air-to-air missiles for air-defence missions. COBRA was unveiled publicly at the recent ILA Berlin air show and is positioned as a light uncrewed platform with a take-off mass of under 600 kg, although some reporting places the figure slightly above that threshold.
The first flight was conducted without an IRIS-T payload or dummy missile, and further trials are planned over the coming months. The concept is aimed at extending the reach of air-defence systems through a reusable airborne launch platform, with potential use in future multi-domain operations.