UMEX 2026 — The third and last day of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) and the Simulation and Training Exhibition (SIMTEX) in Abu Dhabi closed with three more new deals allocated to local UAE defense companies, valued at roughly AED 1.26 billion ($342 million).
An official spokesperson for the Tawazun Council for Defense Enablement — the governmental entity charged with procurement and development — Manea Abdulkarim Al Mansoori, stated during a media briefing on Thursday that two of the contracts signed by the Ministry of Defense were with the UAE’s leading defense company, EDGE Group, though details are scarce.
The first agreement was for the development of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with jet engines, worth AED 385.717 million ($105 million). The second deal signed for EDGE was for the purchase of the Tracked RCV & THEMIS system, valued at AED 525.21 million ($143 million).
Al Mansoori did not specify the number of units or the model of the purchased UAVs. However, EDGE group had on display a mockup of its jet-powered combat drone, known as the Adasi Jeniah. EDGE also produces the jet-powered loitering Shadow 25 UAV.
Nor did Al Mansoori elaborate on the tracked RCVs and THeMIS unmanned system for direct fire support, but it may be a follow-on order to the purchase made during UMEX 2024 by the UAE military of 60 units of the unmanned ground vehicle. Those are armed with 30-mm cannons, and built by Milrem Robotics, an Estonian-based EDGE entity.
Further, EDGE issued a press release today revealing details of two contracts announced in the previous days at the show.
“Under the contracts, EDGE entity ANAVIA, a Switzerland-based company specializing in designing and manufacturing advanced UASs, will produce and deliver 76 HT-100 and 92 HT-750 rotary-wing UASs to the UAE MoD,” the release states.
It added, “The mission-proven HT-100 is an all-terrain, day/night, adverse-weather-capable unmanned helicopter designed as a rapidly deployable alternative to manned rotorcraft for intelligence and data-gathering missions. The larger HT-750 is a multi-role unmanned helicopter designed for logistics missions, capable of transporting heavy payloads while maintaining exceptional flight stability.”
The last contract was signed with another EDGE subsidiary, Caracal International, the local manufacturer of pistols and rifles. The contract, valued at AED 345.33 million ($94 million), covers the procurement of unspecified remote-controlled weapons.
In total, the UAE signed 11 contracts with Emirati firms during the show, totaling $980 million. Al Mansoori stated that this value of signed deals represents a 20 percent increase compared to the previous UMEX in 2024, a sign of “the evolving development and confidence in the UAE’s defense industry.”
3D-Printed USVs
One theme at UMEX was the presence of high-tech maritime unmanned vessels, with companies displaying both surface and underwater drone models.
Executives of companies that build unmanned surface vessels pointed out that many navies have shown interest in platforms built through 3D-printed technology.
Wontaek Shin, the UAE business lead for South Korean defense company LIG, told Breaking Defense that the benefits of 3D printing are high as it is “relatively cheaper and cost-effective.”
Platform configuration is also much easier to achieve once you have a 3D printer or a provider on hand. “The platform can be integrated at 80 or 90 percent with other sensors and shooters easily,” Shin said. He noted that LIG was providing the South Korean navy with many options for USVs, for ISR, combat, and “suicide missions.”
This 3D-printed drone industry has been making steady waves across the market, including in the UAE. Piotr Zbgniew Targowski, head of boat building at Al Seer Marine an Abu Dhabi-based maritime company, told Breaking Defense that the UAE navy was inquiring whether their USV could be 3D-printed.
“We can provide 3D printing, we can provide composite depending on the requirement of the clients,” Targowski said.
Targowski noted that although the method of 3D printing is nothing new within this context, it is by no means easy to integrate into the production line, due to its large scale and hefty investment costs. Targowski told Breaking Defense that “3D printing is the best technology for building suicide USVs” because the navies would want large quantities, with low cost, and in a timely manner, especially at times of conflict.