Emirati defense technology group Edge is to partner in a joint venture with U.S. defense tech company Anduril to develop and produce next-generation Omen autonomous air vehicles (AAVs). The collaboration announced on Monday will include the establishment of the Edge-Anduril Production Alliance in the Emirates that will provide sales and sustainment support, as well as produce a range of AAVs aimed at both civil and defense requirements.

Omen is the first product of the joint venture, a recently developed hover-to-cruise AAV that has been designed to provide the endurance, payload, and mission flexibility of larger vehicles in a runway-independent Group 3 airframe. It draws on Anduril’s Lattice for Mission Autonomy software and Group 3 VTOL development, with heavy investment from Edge.

“Boeing has been making quite a few changes,” said Stephanie Pope, CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA), during a briefing on the eve of the Dubai Airshow. “We have new leadership. We reset with our labor, we reset with our financials and our balance sheet, and then, obviously, we reset how we build airplanes.”

During this “reset,” the company has endeavored to restore its reputation after a series of accidents that called into question its long-standing quality and credibility. “We’ve also underpinned all that with focus on restoring trust, with our customers, with our suppliers, with our employees, and with our regulator,” she said. “That was all driven by changing our culture, and we rolled out new values and behaviors, and have been focused on culture change at BCA.”

While engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney (P&W) continues the campaign to improve the reliability of its geared turbofan (GTF) engine series, the problems that airlines are having with their engines are not unusual in a historical context, according to Rick Deurloo, president of Commercial Engines. GTF engines power the Airbus A320neo family, Airbus A220, and Embraer E-Jets E2.

“When you look at the durability of the V2500 eight years into the program versus the GTF, it's not significantly different,” he said. “The difference is that the ramp was so much higher. In effectively 10 years of delivering engines to our airframe customers, we've already basically met what the V2500 did in its 30-plus years. The difference this time would be that the ramp at the front end of this program was significantly higher than the V2500, but its time on-wing is effectively the same at this point.”

With an emerging requirement for eight to 10 tactical airlifters in the UAE to replace aging C-130H/L-100 Hercules, both Airbus and Embraer have outlined plans for industrial participation from Emirati companies.

Airbus is negotiating a deal for local companies to provide parts for several of its programs, primarily the A400M airlifter. These plans, unveiled earlier this year, involve local companies such as EPI from Edge Group and advanced composites aerostructure company Strata, part of the Mubadala portfolio. The plans also cover a maintenance, repair, and overhaul center.

Collins Aerospace has “been on a journey of transformation,” according to Cynthia Muklevicz, v-p of global airlines and lessors customer excellence. The transformation is intended to improve customer service, continue development of innovative solutions, and return a profit to shareholders.

Speaking with AIN at the Dubai Airshow, Muklevicz explained that the company’s approach to customers too often resulted in sending multiple sales experts to call on a customer, and the transformation is designed to streamline that process.

The digital flip-through issue of AIN’s award-winning Dubai Airshow News is now available online. It’s a great way to quickly scan the news from Dubai Airshow 2025, whether you’re in Dubai attending the show or watching from afar.