A major milestone unfolded in Greece as the Altus LSA Atlas 8 heavy-lift octocopter UAV successfully carried out live ejection firing trials of MBDA’s Akeron MP beyond-line-of-sight anti-tank missile at the NATO Missile Firing Installation in Crete. The tests focused on the Kerveros armed variant, developed jointly by Altus LSA and MBDA, which turns the electric drone’s 50-kilogram payload capacity into a precision strike platform capable of hitting armor, infrastructure, and tactical targets. Footage captured the clean launches, confirming solid integration, steady flight, and smooth ejection with no oscillation or other anomalies.

The successful trials clear a critical path toward commercialization, with first customer deliveries of the Kerveros system planned for late 2026. By proving a heavy-lift electric UAV can reliably deploy advanced guided missiles, the program signals a practical shift in how smaller forces might deliver accurate firepower from the air. The clean results already invite closer looks at how quickly such systems could move from range tests into real operational use and what that means for the next generation of affordable, deployable strike drones.