ABU DHABI—Edge Group's newly established Powertech engine business is looking to secure the first partnership agreements over the next few months to help underpin its ambition to develop a broad range of engines to power its own and other aircraft.
“We already signed high-level strategic term sheets and [memoranda of understanding] with strategic partners to explore the different engines that we can co-develop,” Khaled Al Zaabi, Edge's president of Platforms & Systems, told Aviation Week here in Abu Dhabi. Firm partnerships should be in hand ahead of the Dubai Airshow in November, he said.
Powertech represents one of Edge's most ambitious efforts to make the United Arab Emirates more autonomous for its supply of military equipment. It is intended to complement the state-owned company's autonomous vehicle efforts.
“When engineers start to develop an aircraft, the first question they ask is: 'What engine do I have around?' And then they basically design the platform around the engine,” Al Zaabi said. “So for us, propulsion systems—from piston engines to micro-jets to medium-sized jets to large turbojet propulsion systems—is our destiny, because unless we control that or work with partners that enable us to be able to design and develop them, we will never really be taken seriously in terms of delivering our own capabilities.”
The partnerships could lead to joint ventures that develop their own intellectual property to address Edge's needs initially, “but then we can address international markets, as well,” he added.
Edge is not looking to take on large commercial aircraft engine-makers such as General Electric or Rolls-Royce, he noted, looking to stay away from engines above 35,000 lb. thrust.
Al Zaadi said Edge's uncrewed aircraft portfolio is now growing to the size that making the engine investment makes sense. The company began to seriously explore the endeavor about a year ago. “With the right volumes, with the right demand and production that we have, it makes full economic sense for us to be able to embark into developing our own propulsion systems,” he said.
The company is not blind to the challenges of developing sophisticated propulsion systems. ”We're going into this with very wide eyes, wide open. We know the difficulties—we know the complexities. We know this is not an easy journey,” Al Zaadi said.
Edge used the IDEX 2025 defense expo here to disclose one of its first efforts, the six-cylinder P145I to power uncrewed systems.
Powertech is rapidly growing and looking to build up its production capacity. Al Zaadi said the company is seeking to lean into automation and leverage other Edge operations to help build up its manufacturing capacity, including the group's EPI precision engineering unit. “It's not just a matter of producing an engine. It's a matter of how we produce an engine that's competitive.”