Abu Dhabi's Edge and US defence tech company Anduril will enter into a joint venture to design, develop and produce autonomous air vehicles in a new manufacturing centre in the UAE.

The joint venture will develop products starting with “Omen”, a drone system with both defence and commercial uses, the companies said.

The first 50 of these are booked for a UAE customer, creating a guaranteed production base that anchors the new plant and expands local supply chains, Edge said.

Edge will invest $200 million in the project, building on Anduril’s prior cumulative investment of $850 million in the technology. The companies plan to take the aircraft from the development phase to full-rate production by the end of 2028.

Hamad Al Marar, managing director and chief executive of Edge, sees a “beautiful alignment” with Anduril, with the partners adding value to each other's capabilities.

“We both think alike,” Mr Al Marar told The National. "It's a company that will add to us and we will add to it. The US market is important to us and the UAE market is also important to them. It's one of those partnerships that we saw that we are forging a win-win on every level.”

The partnership brings together “two of the most disruptive defence companies globally” with a shared ambition to co-develop the initial platform of Omen, said Troy Lambeth, Edge's senior vice president. We see a long skyline of expanding that relationship together in a number of exciting areas over time."

Edge and Anduril will co-develop Omen, a hover-to-cruise Autonomous Air Vehicle. Photo: Edge

The move builds on the long-standing defence and security partnership between the UAE and the US. The Gulf nation is focused on developing its local defence manufacturing sector to boost domestic procurement by its armed forces.

The UAE has been focusing on growing its industrial sector, with advanced manufacturing and