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In early May, the German drone startup Quantum Systems announced a new funding round that put its valuation north of $1 billion, making it one of just a handful of so-called “unicorns” in the European defense tech space. Much of its momentum comes from the strength of its performance in Ukraine, where the company has production facilities and has deployed many of its small unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) missions such as monitoring, target detection and battle damage assessment.
Airbus previously invested in Quantum Systems through its Airbus Ventures arm, and both Airbus Ventures and Airbus Defence and Space participated in Quantum’s recent €160 million (around $180 million) funding round. At the Paris Air Show last week, Airbus and Quantum Systems announced a memorandum of understanding to “deepen their strategic cooperation,” with a particular focus on “ensuring European technical sovereignty,” according to their press release — a recurring theme across the show’s industrial attendees.
Related: Special Report: Lessons from Ukraine’s Drone Industry
“I think the message is loud and clear from the U.S. that Europe should take better care of its own security,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury told reporters at the show. “European countries intend to spend more money moving forward on defense, and they intend to procure more from Europe than what they have done so far.”
With respect to small drones in particular, he said, “there is a competitive advantage for those who are at war at the moment, because they’re progressing very quickly … which none of the other countries are doing today.”
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