UAE And Israel Agree On Cooperation In Development Of Anti-Submarine War Capable Unmanned Vessel

Illustration of IAI Israel's defense equipment. (Wikimedia Commons/Tangopaso)

JAKARTA - State arms manufacturers United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Israel signed a strategic agreement in Dubai to jointly design an unmanned vessel capable of conducting anti-submarine warfare, Thursday.

The announcement of the cooperation between the United Arab Emirates defense conglomerate EDGE and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) was made on the last day of the biennial event, Dubai Airshow.

In a joint statement, the companies said they would design an advanced modular unmanned service ship "170 M" which will be usable for military and commercial purposes.

The deal comes after the UAE and Israel last year established diplomatic ties under a deal, in which the United States also agreed to sell F-35 fighter jets to Abu Dhabi.

Previously, aerospace and defense company IAI said in March it would jointly develop an advanced drone defense system with EDGE.

In the future, the UAE-Israel unmanned vessels can operate semi and fully autonomously in carrying out a variety of missions, including submarine detection and anti-submarine warfare missions.

"This development will open many doors for us in local and global markets, both military and commercial," EDGE Chief Executive Faisal Al Bannai said in a statement.

In addition, the ship will also be able to be used for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, mine detection, and sweeping, and as a deployment platform for certain types of aircraft.

Commercially, the unmanned vessel can also be adapted for oil and gas exploration needs among several other capabilities.

To note, the Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) will design the platform and integrate the control and payload systems. Meanwhile, IAI will develop an autonomous control system and integrate the payload into it.

However, the statement did not say how much capital had been put into the project, or when it would enter production.