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Abu Dhabi — Adcom Systems, a United Arab Emirates company, is showing off a distinctive twin-engine UAV with mock-ups of four smart bombs under its wings at the International Defense Exhibition & Conference (IDEX) trade show.
The company is “finalizing negotiations” for a sale of the United 40 block 5 aircraft to the UAE and is in talks with four other countries in the Arabian Gulf, said Ali Al Daheri, general designer at Adcom.
A gulf defense official expressed interest in seeing the armed UAV upon arrival at the show on Feb. 18.
The UAV can carry up to 10 precision-guided munitions with a range of 60 kilometers, Al Daheri said. The aircraft has a surveillance turret under the down-sweeping fuselage.
Adcom displayed a simpler, single-engine block 1 version at the Dubai Air Show in 2011.
The company expects to sign six contracts for the UAV this year, Al Daheri said.
Adcom is looking to build the UAV in the U.S. Al Daheri showed a letter from one American state expressing interest in hosting an assembly site. A U.S.-built model would be sold to Canada and Latin America, Al Daheri said.
The UAV has drawn interest in Europe, Russia and Asia because it is “cost effective,” Al Daheri said.
The aircraft has a claimed endurance of more than 100 hours, maximum takeoff weight of 2,000 kilograms and a ceiling of 8,000 meters.
Adcom’s business has been building target drones for the UAE Air Force.
