IDEX: Is Edge’s Jeniah UCAV right for Rafale?

Dassault, Eurofighter and Saab in Europe are studying options for their customers and it wouldn’t be surprising if the UAE was planning such a philosophy for the near future, possibly with a version of Edge’s new Jeniah unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

It won’t, of course, be integrated into their 80 new Rafale F4s, as they are expected to start being delivered in late 2026, which would too soon. Going down the ‘loyal wingman’ route though will undoubtedly be on the minds of the UAE&AD leadership. 

Dassault is integrating a version of the nEUROn UCAV on the Rafale F5 version. On October 8 last year, Sébastien Lecornu, French minister of the armed forces and veterans affairs, announced the development launch of the UCAV that would complement the future Rafale F5 standard after 2030. 

“This stealth combat drone will contribute to the technological and operational superiority of the French Air Force by 2033,” Lecornu said.

This UCAV will be complementary to the Rafale and suited to collaborative combat, incorporate stealth technologies, autonomous control (with man-in-the-loop), internal payload capacity, and more. It will be highly versatile and designed to evolve in line with future threats, benefiting from the achievements of the nEUROn programme, Europe’s first stealth UCAV demonstrator.

Edge, the UAE’s biggest aerospace business, is known to be integrating its own precision-guided munitions like Al Tariq and Thunder onto the Rafale F4, but could also be planning in the future to do the same with a derivative of its Jeniah UCAV unveiled at IDEX in February 2023. 

The stealthy-looking UCAV hasn’t flown yet, but as an Edge source back then said: “It should fly in around three years from now.” Edge’s managing director, missile and weapons Saif Al Dahbashi, said of Juniah at Bahrain: “It is a very exciting programme, it’s one of our newest products and once it flies will undoubtedly be one of the company’s flagships.”

On M-UMT, USAF AFCENT commander, Lt Gen Derek France spoke at the Manama Air Power Symposium in Bahrain during early November on the importance of this new way of solving the lack of combat mass, that would be a much cheaper option than buying new generation fighters.

“One way to mitigate the threats to manned aircraft and expand the decision space for pilots is to use unmanned systems,” he said. 

“Their robust operational reach and the ability to loiter in high threat areas allows them to identify targets and sense the operational environment that need little to no communications.

“With automated and artificial intelligence enhancements they should be able to enable rapid and prioritise decision making. They must be able to identify friendly, neutral, hostile actors and pass information in real time for rapid prosecution.”

These benefits can of course be multiplied when employed in large numbers, and the lower costs of unmanned systems in theory, compared to advanced manned platforms should allow industry to produce to the scale and tempo, necessary to meet the threats. 

Increased production rates should allow the development of a mesh of network systems sending multiple unmanned systems equipped with varying sensors to cover large areas and pass data to increase situational awareness for other assets.

With a wingspan of 6.5m and length of 10.5m, Jeniah is being developed as a high-speed, low-observable system capable of delivering various munition payloads. Designed to meet diverse mission requirements, for both land and sea operations, Jeniah will have a cruising speed of up to Mach 0.8, with a maximum speed of more than 1,000km/h, delivering payloads in an internal weapons bay, of up to 480kgs. 

The UAEAF&AD is undoubtedly one of the most visionary and well-funded air forces in the world, and unmanned-manned ops will be part of its future operational doctrine. While no one will comment on the Rafale-Jeniah partnership, why wouldn’t Edge want to integrate the likes of its own UAE-funded UCAV onto the platform at some point?