Defense tech firm Anduril announced a new partnership with a United Arab Emirates-based company to build an autonomous air vehicle for both military and commercial use.
Omen, an uncrewed craft designed for electric vertical take-off and landing, is designed to launch “without specialized infrastructure,” according to Anduril.
The Omen is described as a “tailsitter” design, meant to vertically take off from its own structure before transitioning to wing based forward flight. Initial development of the aircraft began in 2019.
EDGE, the United Arab Emirates-based company partnering with Andruil on the Omen project, is expected to produce the first 50 systems in the UAE with full-scale production scheduled by the end of 2028.
The partnership is meant to build on the “long-standing defense partnership” between the United States and UAE, according to the two companies. EDGE is providing Anduril with a “regional presence and established trust across the Middle East,” according to an Anduril press release.
“Our strategic partnership with Anduril opens new pathways for EDGE to harness some of the most advanced autonomous systems engineering in the world,” H.E. Faisal Al Bannai, the chairman of EDGE Group, said in the release. “Embedding that capability in the UAE fundamentally accelerates how we innovate, build and field next-generation systems.”
The Omen platform will also use the Archer Aviation electric powertrain. Archer Aviation, a California-based aerospace company, has also done extensive business in the UAE, conducting the majority of testing for its “Midnight” air-taxi there.
Midnight is also an electric vertical take-off and landing platform and may see use at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.
Omen is the first aircraft to use the proprietary Archer powertrain, which is manufactured in the United States, according to Archer.
“Our powertrain deal with Anduril is the first of what we expect to be many examples of this,” Adam Goldstein, the founder and CEO of Archer, said in a statement. “For almost a year, we have worked closely with Anduril’s team as we advance our hybrid-electric aircraft project.”
Defense contracts offer a pathway for companies such as Archer to diversify their income while moving through the longer regulatory pathway of commercial aircraft. The first 50 Omen systems will be purchased by the UAE, being built out of a local production facility there.
Omen is designed to be deployable by a two-person team and boasts a wide mission set, according to Anduril. That includes maritime surveillance, logistics resupply, communications relay and air defense applications. Experts have described vertical take-off and landing craft as being critical for any future conflict in the Pacific. The faster pace of warfare coupled with hundreds of undeveloped islands makes the platform style easier to deploy.
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey described the Omen system as being able to carry both “fixed payloads or things like retractable gimbals” on X.
“Tailsitter development will kick your a—,” Mr. Luckey said, with Anduril calling the concept a “mirage of the optimal military aircraft.”
The newest version of the aircraft has not yet conducted first flight testing with its new powertrain unit.
• John T. Seward can be reached at jseward@washingtontimes.com.
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