United Arab Emirates defence house EDGE has signed an agreement with Spanish company Indra “focused on the development, production and lifecycle support of loitering munitions and smart weapons for Spanish and European defence programmes”.

Announced on 13 January, the initiative is planned to lead to the establishment of a new production site in the Spanish province of Leon. That “drone manufacturing facility” would be built using an investment of €15-20 million ($17.5-23 million) to be made by Indra.

The partners’ joint ‘defence manufacturing entity’ “would draw on EDGE’s expertise in loitering munitions and smart weapons”, the UAE company says. As an example, its current product portfolio includes the tube-launched, fixed-wing Hunter 2-S system, which can carry a warhead of up to 2kg (4.4lb).

“This approach ensures that advanced systems are produced in-country, aligned with European sovereignty requirements, and available at scale to meet rapidly increasing demand across the European defence market,” it adds.

“Establishing this joint venture with Indra in Spain marks a decisive step in EDGE’s expansion into Europe,” says EDGE Group chief executive Hamad Al Marar, who adds that it will be “building long term industrial capability with a trusted partner”.

Notably, the pact also contains “scope to expand into additional defence capabilities as requirements evolve”, EDGE says.

Meanwhile, Indra Group chief executive Jose Vicente de Los Mozos states: “Through this initiative, Indra takes a decisive step in its ambition to become a European reference in the drone industry.”