IDEX 2023: Edge reveals UAV, loitering munition prices

The Halcon Reach-S UAV on the Edge stand at IDEX 2023 in Abu Dhabi. (Janes/Jeremy Binnie)

Edge has developed products that cost significantly less than the current market leaders, Faisal Al-Bannai, the chairman of the Emirati defence company, told Janes during IDEX 2023, being held in Abu Dhabi from 20 to 24 February.

Al-Bannai gave two examples of what Edge can do when it targets a specific market – the Reach-S unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and the Hunter S tube-launched loitering munition, both of which were launched by the company's Halcon subsidiary at the Dubai Air Show in 2021.

“At the Dubai Air Show, we showed the Reach-S as a dummy model. It is now a flying plane, and we are in the process of closing a very large order,” he said, before revealing how much a single aircraft will cost without a ground control station.

“Very rarely would we announce a price publicly, but we are doing it to make a statement – we are putting a product out there that competes head-to-head with all the players in the same category,” he said. “Where others are selling at between USD3.5–5 million, we are announcing a price of USD1.1 million.”

Al-Bannai referred to the Hunter S as a second example of Edge's “total annihilation of the market”, saying, “the competitors in the category sell at anywhere between USD110,000–170,000 [excluding launcher and control system]. We are going to sell the same spec and performance for USD29,000”.