Omen

Omen is a tail-sitting, hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) uncrewed aircraft developed by Anduril Industries of the United States, unveiled on 12–13 November 2025 ahead of the Dubai Airshow alongside the UAE's state-owned EDGE Group. It takes off and lands vertically on its tail like a rocket, then transitions to airplane-style wing-borne flight, combining VTOL basing flexibility with longer-range, faster cruise than a typical rotorcraft.

Overview

Anduril began developing Omen in 2019 and flew an early demonstrator in 2020, after which the programme ran into limits with available propulsion technology. The company says it spent roughly five years developing a series hybrid-electric powertrain — in which a conventional engine drives a generator that recharges batteries powering the aircraft's propulsors, rather than driving the propellers directly — developed in partnership with eVTOL maker Archer Aviation, which overcame that constraint and made the current design possible.

On 13 November 2025, Anduril and EDGE Group announced the EDGE-Anduril Production Alliance, a joint venture to manufacture Omen and future aircraft in the United Arab Emirates. EDGE is contributing about $200 million toward joint development and local production, alongside roughly $850 million Anduril says it has invested internally in autonomy and Group 3 VTOL development. The alliance includes a firm order for up to 50 Omen aircraft from an undisclosed UAE-based customer, and Anduril is building a 50,000 sq ft engineering and simulation centre in the UAE as part of a permanent regional presence. The companies are targeting full-rate production of missionised aircraft by the end of 2028; aircraft built for US customers are expected to come from Anduril's Arsenal-1 facility in Ohio.

Design and capabilities

Omen stands roughly 3 m (10 ft) tall in its vertical, tail-sitting launch position, with long sailplane-style wings mounted toward the rear of the fuselage, canard foreplanes near the nose, and a twin-boom tail extending from each wing nacelle. Anduril classifies it as a "heavy" Group 3 unmanned aircraft system — the US category spanning roughly 25–600 kg — and says its payload capacity is three to five times, and its range three to four times, that of a typical aircraft in that class, though the company has not published absolute figures. The airframe folds to less than half its assembled size, and Anduril says a two-person team can unpack, assemble and launch it within minutes without dedicated infrastructure.

Omen uses an open, modular payload architecture that Anduril describes as "snap in, snap off," allowing operators to swap electro-optical/infrared gimbals, synthetic-aperture radar, electronic-warfare, or communications-relay payloads on the same airframe. Flight and mission management run on Anduril's Lattice autonomy software, which the company says lets multiple Omen aircraft coordinate flight paths and share sensor data. Anduril and EDGE have proposed roles including maritime domain awareness, long-range overland surveillance, contested logistics resupply, communications relay, electronic warfare, and civilian missions such as search and rescue and disaster response.

Operational history

As of its November 2025 unveiling, Omen had completed hundreds of flight hours across more than 30 prototype airframes since 2020 but had no fielded, missionised examples; Anduril and EDGE Group were still finalising the US and UAE government approvals the joint venture requires. The UAE-based order for up to 50 aircraft, placed under the EDGE-Anduril Production Alliance, is the only disclosed customer commitment, with full-rate production targeted for the end of 2028.

Frequently asked questions

What makes Omen different from a typical drone?

It is a tail-sitting VTOL aircraft: it takes off and lands vertically on its tail, then tilts into forward, wing-borne flight for longer and faster cruise than a hovering rotorcraft, using a series hybrid-electric powertrain developed with Archer Aviation.

Who is building Omen?

Anduril Industries of the United States, under the EDGE-Anduril Production Alliance announced in November 2025 with the UAE's state-owned EDGE Group, which is co-funding development and local production in the UAE.

Has Omen flown?

Anduril reports an early demonstrator first flew in 2020 and that prototypes have logged hundreds of flight hours since, but a production-representative first flight date has not been disclosed.

Who operates Omen?

No aircraft had been delivered as of November 2025. An undisclosed UAE-based customer has placed a firm order for up to 50 aircraft under the EDGE-Anduril Production Alliance.

How big is Omen?

Anduril has not published dimensions or weight, but the aircraft stands about 3 m (10 ft) tall in its tail-sitting launch position and is classified as a "heavy" Group 3 UAS.