Million-Dollar Missiles To Cheaper Drones: UAE Defence Group EDGE Adapts To New Threats

UAE-based defence technology company EDGE says the regional conflict has accelerated its plans to manufacture drone interceptors, as demand grows for lower-cost alternatives to conventional air-defence missiles.

The company has developed two such systems, SHADOW 3 and VORTEX-E, which use artificial intelligence and visual guidance technology to intercept hostile drones. While both were developed before the conflict, EDGE says the recent escalation has prompted it to expand manufacturing facilities, introduce three-shift operations and speed up development.

In an interview with Khaleej Times, Miles Chambers, Senior Vice President – International Business at EDGE, said the increasing use of relatively inexpensive drones had changed the demands placed on defence manufacturers.

"The drone is now the volume threat - and you can only defend against volume with systems you can produce and use at volume when the threat arrives," he said.

The regional conflict has also demonstrated the value of having defence technology developed and available locally, rather than depending entirely on overseas suppliers.

"Sovereign capability is what you can deploy at day one, without waiting for shipments or import licences. That is what happened here," Chambers said.

He cited an earlier statement by EDGE's chairman that 80 to 85 per cent of drones intercepted during the conflict were countered using locally developed solutions, including electronic warfare technologies that disrupt or divert incoming drones.

The urgency to increase production has seen EDGE employees working extended hours to maintain manufacturing operations.

"We had people staying and sleeping on the factory floors to keep production lines running," Chambers said.

Engineers have also been working at a significantly faster pace, with the company's chief technology officer describing "update cycles measured in hours, not months".

EDGE's work on drone interception technology began before the regional conflict. Its autonomous systems subsidiary, ADASI, unveiled SHADOW 3 at IDEX in early 2025, followed by VORTEX-E at the Dubai Airshow in November that year.

"This wasn't something that arose suddenly in February," Chambers said, referring to the regional conflict that began on February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, followed by Iranian attacks on its Gulf neighbours, including the UAE.

"There was a lot of pre-planning - lessons learned from around the world fed into investments made several years ago so the UAE would be ready to address changing threats," he said.

The company has since been finalising designs and expanding its production facilities, although the pace of manufacturing varies between systems.

"All of these are moving into mass production at different scales and rates," he said.

EDGE did not disclose how many SHADOW 3 or VORTEX-E interceptors it currently manufactures.

For decades, conventional air-defence systems were primarily designed to counter aircraft and ballistic missiles, with some interceptors costing millions of dollars.

"One-way attack drones broke that arithmetic. They cost tens of thousands of dollars and arrive in dozens," Chambers said.

According to figures cited by Chambers, a Patriot PAC-3 interceptor costs a little over $4 million, while Shahed-type attack drones are estimated to cost between $20,000 and $50,000.

In August, The New York Times reported that US-based defence firm Powerus was manufacturing Guardian drone interceptors in the UAE at a cost of approximately $5,000 each.

Chambers declined to disclose the price of EDGE's SHADOW 3 and VORTEX-E systems, citing commercial sensitivity, but said they cost a fraction of conventional interception missiles.

"I would describe it as less a shift away from missiles than a shift toward matching the cost of the interceptor to the cost of the threat," he said.

EDGE's counter-drone technologies also include systems that can stop incoming drones without launching a physical interceptor.

Chambers identified SkyShield and NavControl, UAE-made electronic warfare systems that use jamming and spoofing technologies to interfere with hostile drones. He said these systems have been working with the Ministry of Defence on geofencing.

"That is an interception too - you bring down the drone, or push it away, without having to fire anything, which is as close to zero cost per engagement as you can get," he said.

However, Chambers cautioned against judging the effectiveness of an interception system solely by its price.

"The right metric is not the cost per interceptor - it is the cost per successful intercept, and whether you can replace what you fire faster than the adversary can replace what he launches."

He also stressed the importance of considering the potential damage to infrastructure and loss of life if an incoming threat is not intercepted.

Miles Chambers

VORTEX-E is a dedicated interceptor designed to engage incoming drones at distances of around 24 kilometres.

According to Chambers, radar first detects an approaching threat and directs the interceptor towards it. During the final stages of flight, onboard AI-assisted cameras lock onto the target.

SHADOW 3 is a larger system equipped with a turbojet engine, allowing it to engage faster-moving threats.

It has a range of approximately 30km and can intercept targets travelling at speeds of between 200 and 400kmph, depending on its configuration, Chambers said.

The system is vertically launched from a canister and can operate from a vehicle or containerised platform.

Unlike conventional interception missiles that rely on expensive seeker systems, EDGE's interceptors use AI-assisted visual guidance. They are also designed for production lines in the UAE that can be scaled up as demand increases.

However, Chambers stressed that these systems serve a different purpose from conventional ballistic missile defence.

"What they are not is a replacement for ballistic missile defence systems like Patriot. That is a different problem, and for that we will always need those systems."

Alongside developing its own systems, EDGE is also participating in efforts to manufacture components for foreign-designed interceptor technology in the UAE.

Chambers cited agreements between Tawazun Council and US defence company Raytheon to co-produce systems such as the Coyote counter-drone interceptor in Abu Dhabi, with EDGE contributing through precision engineering and the supply of components.

According to figures he cited from the Center for a New American Security, the Coyote interceptor costs approximately $126,000.

He said establishing domestic manufacturing capabilities would help reduce dependence on overseas shipments and import licences during periods of urgent demand.

EDGE already exports counter-drone technology, including its SkyShield electronic warfare system.

Chambers said interest in counter-drone systems was growing across Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and Latin America.

"I can't discuss specific customers we are in negotiations with, but I can say that counter-UAS is the first capability every customer asks about," he said.

However, he did not confirm whether SHADOW 3 or VORTEX-E had secured international export orders.

Chambers said the UAE Armed Forces remained EDGE's first customer and priority, with all overseas sales subject to government export controls and end-user certification.

Looking ahead, he expects the ability to rapidly expand manufacturing capacity to become an increasingly important consideration for defence companies.

"The ability to surge production is critical," he said. "We can't, in a time of urgent need, say we need two years to ramp up."

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