Lodd Autonomous has completed the first test flight of its heavy-lift unmanned aircraft, marking a new step in the UAE’s ambitions to build and export home-grown autonomous aviation technologies.

The demonstration took place in Al Ain during the first Abu Dhabi Autonomous Week, which showcased the emirate’s plans to become a global centre for robotics, advanced mobility and autonomous systems.

The hybrid aircraft, which is named Hili and was designed, engineered and manufactured entirely in Abu Dhabi, can carry payloads of up to 250kg over nearly 700km.

Powered by a modular hybrid propulsion system, Hili is part of the UAE’s push to build complex aviation programmes locally and position itself as a leader in next-generation air cargo.

Rashid Mattar Al Manai, chief executive of Lodd Autonomous, said the flight reflected years of development and a national commitment to building advanced technologies inside the UAE. “It’s a realisation of a national vision to see that design, assembly, production and innovation happen in the UAE,” he told The National following the test.

Mr Al Manai, who has led major aerospace programmes in the country, said delivering an aircraft designed entirely in Abu Dhabi demonstrated that the emirate’s innovation ecosystem was working. “The ecosystem that the leadership have put in Abu Dhabi in terms of education, training and industries, works,” he said.

The UAE plans to accelerate its investment in autonomous logistics. Under the country’s transport strategy, the logistics sector is earmarked to contribute Dh300 billion to the national economy by 2031.

Mr Al Manai said initiatives like Hili will help strengthen the UAE’s position as a regional logistics hub by easing trade flows within the country and speeding up connections with neighbouring markets. The company intends to initially focus on the “middle-mile” segment of cargo transport, the gap between major logistics centres and regional distribution points.

“We have produced and designed this aircraft mainly for the middle-mile logistics … and we are targeting the global market either in Africa, Asia or Europe,” Mr Al Manai said. But scaling autonomous aviation will also depend on public trust, he said, something that grows only with consistent performance and transparency.

“Public trust usually comes with day-to-day operations, so we need to operate these systems daily and reliably,” he said.