EU to Force Car-Rental Firms to Buy EVs Only From 2030: Bild
Under the deliberations, companies like Sixt SE and Europcar Mobility Group SA would only be allowed to purchase electric vehicles from that date, the publication said, citing European Union sources it didn't identify.
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Yahoo
34 minutes ago
- Yahoo
XQ-58 Valkyrie Heading To European Market With Kratos-Airbus Team-Up
Airbus Defense and Space has teamed up with Kratos Defense and Security Solutions to provide the stealthy XQ-58A Valkyrie drone to the German Luftwaffe. The development could see the Valkyrie being offered to a range of other European nations, alongside Germany, potentially filling an emerging niche for 'loyal wingman'-type drones, along with other roles, with a number of air forces. The partnership between Airbus and Kratos will see the European firm equip the XQ-58A with a new mission system, details of which otherwise remain scarce, other than the fact that it will feature a 'platform-agnostic system architecture,' meaning that it can be integrated into the U.S.-made drone and others more easily. TWZ approached Kratos for more details on what the changes would involve, as well as the broader aims of the program, and was told that the new partnership aimed to achieve 'an affordable, low-risk, high-capability Collaborative Combat Aircraft optimized for German/European defense applications.' Eric DeMarco, CEO of Kratos, described the new version of the Valkyrie as being 'tuned' for the European mission, suggesting that it will feature specific modifications for operators in the region. In a statement, Mike Schoellhorn, CEO of Airbus Defense and Space, doesn't refer explicitly to a German plan involving the XQ-58A, but notes that 'our customers have expressed an urgent demand for both attritable and non-attritable Collaborative Combat Aircraft.' By teaming up with Kratos, Airbus will be able to 'deliver crucial capabilities for our warfighters in Europe before the end of the decade.' Airbus says that the plan is for the 'Europeanized' drone to be ready for the Luftwaffe by 2029. At this stage, it's not clear if the German Ministry of Defense has a specific requirement to buy the XQ-58A, but there are certainly signs that it wants to introduce a similar platform in the future. It should also be recalled that Kratos has, in the past, said that it was developing two new drone designs, Apollo and Athena, with a particular focus on collaborative operations with other crewed and uncrewed aircraft, and an eye toward sales in Europe. The modular Apollo and Athena designs are smaller than the XQ-58A and could be configured to carry weapons, electronic warfare systems, or additional sensors, as you can read about here. However, Kratos told TWZ that the new partnership with Airbus is not related to Apollo and Athena. Meanwhile, last summer, Airbus unveiled a stealthy CCA-like concept of its own, known as Wingman. At the time, Schoellhorn said that the Luftwaffe had 'expressed a clear need' for a drone that would be able to operate in conjunction with crewed fighters before the arrival in service of the pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS). The FCAS program is aiming for service entry in the 2040s, with a crewed New Generation Fighter (NGF) as its centerpiece. Schoellhorn noted that the Wingman would be expected to enter service in the 2030s timeframe. Somewhat larger than the XQ-58A, the Wingman currently exists only as a concept aircraft, while the Valkyrie has been flying since 2019. Potentially, Germany might be looking to acquire the XQ-58A as an interim platform pending the arrival of the Wingman, although the company's plans suggest it will be looking to find a market for the 'Europeanized' drone with NATO members across the continent. Germany, for its part, would certainly seem to be a candidate for a CCA-type drone, especially as an uncrewed companion that it wants to have work alongside its forthcoming Eurofighter EK electronic warfare jets. However, an Airbus official told Breaking Defense that, at this point, the XQ-58A is not being pitched for this Electronic Combat Wingman program. That is somewhat surprising, especially considering the fact that the Valkyrie has previously been tested in an electronic warfare capacity, and an EW version of the drone exists as a program of record for the U.S. Marine Corps. Regardless, the potential of a drone of this kind could also be harnessed by other German Eurofighters, which undertake a range of air defense and air-to-ground missions, as well as the F-35A stealth jets it also has on order. Noteworthy is the fact that the F-35 is slated to work together with CCAs, as well, with the combination of the stealth jet and complementary drones being a key facet of the planned future U.S. Air Force force posture. Airbus describes the XQ-58A as a runway-independent rail-launched drone, which could also be especially interesting for European air forces, allowing them to conduct dispersed operations and to forward-launch the drones close to NATO's eastern border. The drones can even be launched from forward locations out of shipping containers, to maximize range and loiter time, with crewed fighters joining up with them from deeper, more protected bases. At the same time, it remains possible that the new version of the drone might at least be offered with built-in landing gear. Kratos first announced that a version of the drone with tricycle-type wheeled landing gear was in the works last year, and this might present certain advantages over the original runway-independent design. Meanwhile, there also exists the ability to launch the Valkyrie from a wheeled launch trolley, if required. It's notable that, before the Wingman concept, Airbus worked on other advanced uncrewed aircraft programs. Chief among these is the Barracuda, work on which began in 2003, initially as a 'black program.' After six test campaigns, the Barracuda — which has a striking resemblance to the XQ-58A — was retired. Experience and data from the drone have been fed into FCAS, which is also planned to include interaction of crewed and uncrewed aircraft, with 'remote carrier' drones of different sizes being among the latter. Whatever Germany's plans for the Valkyrie, the partnership with Airbus appears very well timed to bring a relatively proven 'loyal wingman'-type drone to the European market. With increasing tensions between NATO and Russia, air forces are paying much more attention to more affordable ways of usefully boosting combat mass. This could be a real boost for the XQ-58A, especially since it was absent from the first tranche of the U.S. Air Force's Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) program. Ultimately, General Atomics and Anduril were selected to build flying prototypes of their designs, now designated YFQ-42A and YFQ-44A, respectively, under CCA's Increment 1, but the Valkyrie could well still have a chance for follow-on tranches. Meanwhile, the U.S. Marine Corps has been testing the Valkyrie extensively and, earlier this year, Kratos confirmed that it was close to final configurations of the drone for the service. It's unclear what the Marine Corps variants will be, but Kratos has previously said it was working on at least five XQ-58 variants, including one that was optimized for electronic attack. For many years, defense spending across Europe — and not just in Germany — saw air forces reduced in size and lose some of their previous capabilities. A renewed emphasis on defense and the potential of uncrewed assets could open significant new markets for the XQ-58A, especially as air forces look for lower-cost ways of rebuilding combat mass. Contact the author: thomas@ Solve the daily Crossword
Bloomberg
36 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Sustainable Finance Data: Strategic Navigation of Regulatory Complexity
As sustainability and climate considerations become integral to financial markets, a few key trends are shaping the landscape: the maturation of reporting standards, deeper understanding of materiality, and broader integration across investment, risk, and capital markets workflows. With these trends comes a pressing need for enterprises to centralize sustainability data across all functions—including risk management, advisory, trading, research, and regulatory reporting—while ensuring confidence in its quality, consistency, and governance. However, sustainability and climate datasets remain inherently less standardized than traditional financial data, making strong data acquisition, transformation, and validation processes essential. Our new Sustainable Finance Solutions webinar series will give asset managers, banks, asset owners, and corporations a behind-the-scenes look at Bloomberg's approach to high-quality, reliable sustainability data—from core corporate sustainability reporting to complex datasets like biodiversity and physical climate risk assessment. In this session, we will explore: Challenges in the sustainable finance regulatory environment The nuances of reviewing, collecting, and standardizing regulatory information to ensure a high quality dataset Leveraging these datasets in decision-useful analytics Join us as we take a deep dive into the data powering sustainable finance decisions across the Bloomberg Terminal and Enterprise Data feeds. Speakers Federico Benetti Data Management Professional, Sustainable Finance Regulations Data Bloomberg Federico is specialised in the management and quality of regulatory datasets. He plays a key role in ensuring that data products are aligned with client needs and regulatory standards by implementing robust validation and remediation frameworks. His work supports the delivery of reliable, fit-for-purpose datasets that underpin critical compliance and reporting solutions. Nicola Moscan Product Owner, Sustainable Finance Regulations Data Bloomberg Nicola Moscan is a Product Owner at Bloomberg, focused on the strategy and development of Sustainable Finance Regulations Data. He leads the data product vision underpinning key regulatory frameworks — such as the EU Taxonomy, CSRD, and SFDR — ensuring the datasets are robust, transparent, and ready for use across a range of client-facing solutions. Nicola's role centers on data management as a strategic enabler: aligning sourcing, modeling, governance, and quality practices to meet regulatory requirements and business needs. He previously worked as a data specialist within the same team, contributing to a broad portfolio of initiatives across regulatory research, data operations, and infrastructure. Before joining Bloomberg, Nicola worked at a financial data vendor specializing in asset-backed securities. There, he focused on loan-level data sourced from regulatory disclosure obligations under the European Securitisation Regulation — strengthening his foundation in regulatory data design and compliance. Nicola brings deep expertise in regulatory data workflows and is passionate about delivering trusted, fit-for-purpose data that powers sustainable finance across the industry. Karen Brenseke Sustainable Finance Market Specialist Bloomberg Karen Brenseke is an ESG Market Specialist at Bloomberg. She focuses on helping financial market participants navigate the ever-changing landscape of sustainable finance, impacts of global regulations and frameworks, and integration of ESG information into decision-making and risk management processes. Prior to her role as an ESG Market Specialist, Karen specialized in building enterprise data products for ESG regulations including the European Union (EU) Taxonomy, Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). She has led various consultation efforts with regulators and advisory groups to enhance the clarity, usability, and interoperability of global regulations.
Bloomberg
37 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
ICYMI: Ireland's International Reach
US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose 30% tariffs on European Union goods. Brussels says it still wants to negotiate, but it is also reportedly preparing a plan in case of no deal. Could the EU mount a meaningful response? Yes, by targeting US services, where America runs a trade surplus. The challenge: getting key EU member states to overcome fears of provoking a broader escalation. Darragh O'Brien, Minister for Transport, Climate, Energy and the Environment for the Republic of Ireland, offers his assessment of the critical trade talks, his nation's importance to the global investing landscape, and Ireland's sustainable energy plans as its data center installations continue to proliferate. Darragh speaks with Tim Stenovec and Carol Massar on Bloomberg Businessweek Daily.
