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UAE Announces Major Deals and Autonomous System Debuts at UMEX 2026

Permissive regulation plus state procurement are speeding trials toward near-term deployment across air, land and sea.

Overview

  • Tawazun said AED879.785 million in Ministry of Defence contracts were signed on day one, including EDGE awards for SCORPIO S/M unmanned vehicles, a gyrocopter conversion to unmanned logistics, and ANAVIA HT-100 aircraft.
  • SIRBAI launched the Middle East’s first AI-powered autonomous drone swarm platform for resilient, operator-centric missions in contested and GPS-denied environments, developed from Abu Dhabi research with TII support.
  • SteerAI unveiled xRift, a fully autonomous off-road vehicle using the CoreX autonomy stack developed with TII, with production units targeted for deployment by the end of 2026.
  • LODD Autonomous reported more than 200 orders for its Heli cargo aircraft, following a November 2025 maiden flight, with pilot operations planned for mid-2027 and GCAA certification expected the year after.
  • Archer Aviation highlighted ongoing UAE test flights and said it will bring pilots and aircraft this summer as it prepares for passenger eVTOL operations using heliports upgraded with high-power charging.