Abu Dhabi’s TII, Naval Group Partner On Underwater Drones

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- Abu Dhabi’s Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has signed an agreement with French naval defence company, Naval Group to explore jointly developing and commercialising uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs).

The agreement was signed on Nov 3 and announced during the Euronaval 2026 exhibition. TII is the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council.

“Autonomous underwater technologies are becoming central to the future of maritime operations,” said TII Chief Executive Officer, Dr Najwa Aaraj in a statement.

She said the collaboration would help accelerate technology from laboratory capability to deployed systems.

Meanwhile, Naval Group Executive Vice President of Drones, Autonomous and Underwater Weapons Systems, Aurore Neuschwander said the partnership builds on Naval Group’s longstanding relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

“These capabilities will be essential in addressing the evolving maritime security challenges for the country,” said Neuschwander.

The two organisations aim to develop autonomous systems for persistent maritime surveillance and underwater reconnaissance in non-contested waters. They also aim to develop combat UUVs for operations in contested waters.

The cooperation will draw on TII’s extra-large UUV and Naval Group’s experience in unmanned combat underwater systems, with the aim of supporting the development of autonomous underwater capabilities in the UAE.

-- BERNAMA