Egypt unveils indigenous drones on the first day of EDEX-2021

Africa, Middle East, News December 1, 2021 , by IRIA No Comments

Egypt unveiled two indigenous drones, “EJ-30” and “Nut” that are capable of carrying out defense and offense operations.

Egyptian UAVs were displayed during the second edition of the Egyptian Defense Expo (EDEX – 2021) is underway in Cairo, Egypt, and will last until December 2. The focus of this year’s expo is to showcase the African defense industry.

The locally produced drone “Nut” was named after an Egyptian goddess of the sky. The Nut drone can carry up to 50 kilograms of payload, with satellite stealth capabilities, and has an endurance of 10 hours. The UAV is also cable of performing tactical reconnaissance missions and uses electro-optical technology that allows it to operate both during the day and night.

The drone was developed by Industrial Complex Engineering Robots in cooperation with Egypt’s Ministry of Military Production. Although the major production and development for the design of the drone was carried out by the Egyptian armed forces, the Arab Organization for Industrialization played a significant role in the production process.

Egyptian-made drone "Nut" exhibited at EDEX 2021 (TV screenshot via EgyptToday) — *^{Egyptian-made drone “Nut” exhibited at EDEX 2021 (TV screenshot via EgyptToday)}*

Egypt also showcased its new EJune-30 SW drone, which is 8.9 meters long and has a 12 meters wingspan. The UAV is capable of taking off and landing automatically, with a maximum weight of 1,400 kilograms. The EJune-30 drone has 24 hours flight endurance, can operate at an altitude of 7,000 meters, and fly up to the speed of 260 kph.

The drone’s design and features seem to be heavily inspired by UAE’s United-40 Aerial Vehicle, which was developed by ADCOM Systems in UAE. It is likely that the technology transfer agreement between Egypt and UAE played a role in the design and production process of the drones by Egypt. However, so far neither the ADCOM Systems nor the expo’s organizers have given a clear answer to this question.

Egypt’s military analyst Mohamed al-Kenany told Defense News, “EJune-30 looks exactly like the Emirati Yabhon United 40 unmanned aerial vehicle. It is highly probable that this is the Egyptian version of the UAV after technology transfer from the UAE to Egypt, but ICER officials at the show didn’t respond to any question regarding this subject at the show.”

During the exhibition, Egypt also exhibited small, medium, and heavy arms ammunition, military vehicles, and a range of missiles, including surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, and anti-submarine missiles.

On the first day of EDEX – 2021, Egyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurated the expo and inspected the Egyptian pavilion and locally produced military tech.

The EDEX – 2021 expo was initially planned to be held in 2020 but due to the Covid-19 restrictions, it was moved to 2021. The expo houses pavilions of more than 300 companies from 18 different countries including Egypt, the United States, France, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.