Airbility Inc., a future air mobility specialist, announced on the 12th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia's SANAD Industrial Company LLC to establish a joint venture (JV) for the manufacture and localization of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The agreement, signed on the 6th (local time) at the KOTRA trade center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was made possible with support from KOTRA's overseas branch establishment project.
Airability, a company developing high-speed electric tiltrotor-based eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft), was co-founded in 2023 by aviation experts from Hyundai Motor Company and the Agency for Defense Development (ADD). Currently, the company is developing a variety of mission-specific unmanned aerial vehicle solutions, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), anti-drone (counter-drone), and disaster response (DFR), and is focusing on advancing scalable aerial platform technology for the global market.
Our partner, SANAD Industrial, is a specialized industrial and defense company under the EROG Group. In line with the Saudi government's "Vision 2030" strategy, SANAD is promoting the localization of advanced manufacturing technologies and strengthening self-reliance in the defense industry. This agreement is part of a collaborative effort to establish a UAV production ecosystem in Saudi Arabia and promote the domestic production of aviation technology.
The two companies plan to jointly build a UAV production facility measuring approximately 8,000 square meters. Initially, the collaboration will focus on the assembly and local production of Airability's high-speed eVTOL aircraft, the AB-U60. Going forward, the two companies plan to expand their business to include the development and production of medium- to large-sized UAVs utilizing hybrid propulsion systems.
“We are delighted to be launching full-scale UAV production in Saudi Arabia alongside SANAD Industrial, a subsidiary of EROG Group,” said Tae-gyu Ryu, CEO of Airability. “This collaboration will not only contribute to the localization of Airability technology, but will also serve as an important opportunity to establish a foundation for sustainable growth within the global aviation industry ecosystem.”
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