Anduril unveils Omen AAV, forms JV with EDGE Group in UAE

Californian company Anduril Industries has unveiled its Omen Vertical Take-Off and Landing (VTOL) Group 3 Autonomous Air Vehicle (AAV). This is designed to carry significant Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and strike payloads a tactically relevant distance. The Omen will be manufactured in Abu Dhabi by a new Joint Venture (JV) established by Anduril and United Arab Emirates company EDGE Group.

The EDGE-Anduril Production Alliance will manufacture the first 50 Omen systems, creating a guaranteed production base, expanding local supply chains, and accelerating the country’s path toward domestic mass production of AAVs, says Anduril. The Alliance will be a jointly-owned production, sales and sustainment vehicle for next-generation autonomous systems.

Together, the parties will collaborate on Omen which is designed to pack the endurance, payload, and mission flexibility of much larger systems into a novel, runway-independent group 3 airframe, adds Anduril. Omen is the first in a series of autonomous systems envisioned under the joint venture.

“Defence innovation is measured not by ideas, but by the pace at which those ideas translate into capability,” said Trae Stephens, Co-Founder and Executive Chair, Anduril. “With EDGE, we’re aligning the means of production with the urgency of modern deterrence.”

“Our strategic partnership with Anduril opens new pathways for EDGE to harness some of the most advanced autonomous systems engineering in the world,” said His Excellency Faisal Al Bannai, Chairman of EDGE Group. “Embedding that capability in the UAE fundamentally accelerates how we innovate, build and field next-generation systems.”

The EDGE-Anduril JV will accelerate the design, development, and production of autonomous systems to support both civil and defence missions in the Middle East and surrounding regions, says Anduril. The two companies are deepening the existing US-UAE alliance by co-developing critical capabilities that strengthen both nations’ commercial aerospace and defence ecosystems and expand access to advanced, software-defined technologies, the company says.

The new EDGE–Anduril Production Alliance will be a jointly-owned production, sales and sustainment vehicle. The parties are in the process of finalising the detailed arrangements in line with the necessary US and UAE approvals required.