UMEX 2026— Day two of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) and Simulation and Training Exhibition (SIMTEX) in Abu Dhabi wrapped up with more deals awarded by the UAE military to local defense companies, valued at AED 1.4 billion ($403 million).
An official spokesperson for the Tawazun Council for Defense Enablement, Manea Abdulkarim Al Mansoori, said three of the contracts signed by the Emirati Ministry of Defense on Wednesday were with the UAE’s leading defense giant, EDGE Group.
The first was worth AED 1.396 billion ($380 million) for the purchase of an undisclosed number of heavy-lift, long-rang Anavia HT-750 drones. The second was to allocate AED 45.140 million ($12.3 million) for the research and development of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), dubbed QX. Finally, a third contract, worth AED 10.556 ($2.876 million), was handed out to turn EDGE’s armored vehicle, the Nimr, into an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV).
Combined with the $240 million announced in deals for EDGE on day one, the local UAE champion has brought its contracted total from the show to roughly $635 million.
An additional contract announced by Al Mansoori went to another Emirati defense company, Houbara Defense and Security, to purchase an undisclosed number of remotely operated explosive ordnance disposal vehicles. The contract with the Ministry of Defense was valued at AED 28 million ($7.63 million).
Tawazun is an Emirati government entity tasked with overseeing the development of the local defense industry and transferring technology to help create a local domestic supply chain for required advanced military and security systems.
American Firms Show Off
Al Mansoori stressed that the UAE’s vision is to position itself as a central player in the development and adoption of unmanned systems across military and security domains in particular. But while the big deals announced have gone to local firms, the conference has featured a strong turnout by unmanned industry leaders from around the world.
American drone giant General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) announced it was signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Calidus Aerospace to look into coproduction of the MQ-9B and Gambit drones inside the UAE.
The MOU says that “all parties will look to collaborate on programs in the areas of airframe manufacturing, final assembly, test and checkout, as well as flight operational test and acceptance.”
“Working with partners within UAE helps us to connect with key experts and capabilities in the region,” said GA-ASI president David Alexander in a statement, which also noted that the deal would represent the first time GA-ASI drones could be manufactured in the Middle East.
Meanwhile, Shield AI’s X-BAT, an AI-piloted vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) jet-powered UAV, made its regional debut. The system, which was first unveiled in October, has been billed by the company as the first autonomous VTOL jet fighter.
Bob Harward, a retired US vice admiral who is now ShieldAI’s executive vice president of international business and strategy, told Breaking Defense that the X-BAT is capable of “detecting enemy assets and engaging them in real-time” up to 2,000 nautical miles deep in enemy territory.
He noted that X-BAT’s concept has been proven out by the use of Shield’s older design, the V-BAT, in Ukraine. According to Howard, those have proven extremely efficient due to their long range and anti-jamming capabilities, enabling them to reach 100 miles deep behind Russian lines and provide ISR that allowed Ukrainian artillery and HIMARS missiles to hit their targets with precision.
Harward said the UAE military acquired about a dozen V-BAT drones and pointed out that ShieldAI has been collaborating with Emirati defense companies to develop its platforms, enabling them to be compatible with locally produced payloads such as missiles and sensors.
Harward said the UAE is one of Shield AI’s biggest partners: “There is no other customer as significant as the UAE…They have large inventories of this (V-BAT) and it’s only growing. They are also interested in moving forward with the X-BAT.”
However, he noted that the US government is yet to release the export controls on the X-BAT, meaning any potential sales will be in the future.
