Anduril and EDGE Launch Joint Drone Venture in UAE

In a strategic move signaling deepening defense ties and expanding industry collaboration, U.S. defense technology firm Anduril Industries and the United Arab Emirates’ EDGE Group have announced a new joint venture focused on the development and sale of advanced unmanned aerial systems. The partnership, revealed in the Breaking Defense article titled “Anduril, EDGE ink joint venture for drone sales,” is poised to significantly expand both companies’ global footprints in the burgeoning drone and counter-drone markets.

The new entity, based in the UAE, will initially focus on adapting and selling Anduril’s autonomous drone platforms and EDGE’s existing loitering munitions and UAV portfolios to regional and international customers. It will also serve as a hub for new research and development efforts that combine the two firms’ technical strengths.

According to representatives from both companies, the joint venture will prioritize modular, scalable solutions for short and medium-range aerial threats, with a strong emphasis on integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning to increase autonomy and battlefield effectiveness. These capabilities, Anduril and EDGE assert, will be key differentiators in an increasingly congested and contested aerial domain.

Anduril CEO Brian Schimpf stated that the joint effort represents more than a simple business expansion. “This is about building a robust, sovereign capability that can serve the defense needs of the UAE and allied nations,” he said. “Together, we’re combining Anduril’s software expertise and EDGE’s production scale to deliver rapidly-deployable, high-performance systems.”

The venture also underscores the UAE’s broader push to invest in next-generation defense technologies, a strategy that has steadily elevated EDGE to one of the world’s leading military suppliers in less than five years. For Anduril, founded in 2017 by tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey, the partnership marks a meaningful step toward securing international markets for its AI-driven defense platforms, which have so far gained traction primarily with U.S. customers.

Details regarding the financial structure of the joint venture have not been disclosed, but executives noted that it will involve shared leadership and resource commitments. Production is expected to be carried out in facilities within the UAE, aligning with the Gulf nation’s strategic goal of achieving defense manufacturing self-sufficiency.

Defense analysts view the partnership as a reflection of evolving geopolitical dynamics, where nations increasingly blend traditional military alliances with shared defense industrial ventures. “This joint venture is a powerful statement about where Anduril and EDGE see the future of air warfare going,” said a senior think tank advisor familiar with the development. “Autonomy, speed to market, and regional manufacturing capacity are taking precedence over legacy models.”

The agreement arrives amid rising global demand for unmanned systems, driven by growing interest in asymmetric warfare capabilities and lessons learned from recent conflicts, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East. Industry observers expect continued investment in drone swarms, intelligent target recognition, and active counter-UAS defenses in the years ahead.

While the potential export destinations for the joint venture’s products remain unspecified, executives emphasized that all sales would comply with U.S. and UAE export control laws. That point is critical, as drone exports—especially those involving advanced AI—are subject to heightened scrutiny from regulators concerned about proliferation and end-use assurances.

With this new collaboration, Anduril and EDGE are positioning themselves at the forefront of a rapidly evolving defense sector, where commercial innovation converges with strategic necessity. As unmanned systems become an increasingly dominant feature of modern warfare, partnerships like this are likely not only to proliferate but also to redefine traditional defense procurement paradigms.