MBDA and Fly-R Sign Contract to Develop 'Diamond Shaped' Loitering Munition in UAE Under Rafale Offset Obligations

MBDA and Fly-R Launch Loitering Munition Program in UAE, Linked to Rafale Export Offsets

MBDA and French drone company Fly-R signed a co-development agreement on June 18, 2026, at the Eurosatory defense exhibition to jointly develop and mass-produce the Diamond Shaped loitering munition in the United Arab Emirates. The signing marks a significant step forward in the trilateral partnership between MBDA, Fly-R, and the UAE's Tawazun Council, a relationship first formally established at the Dubai Airshow in November 2025.

Rooted in the Rafale Industrial Commitment

The Diamond Shaped program is one of the industrial production guarantees attached to France's December 2021 contract to supply 80 Rafale F4 jets to the UAE — the largest defense export contract in French history.

Research, development, and production will be driven through a newly established MBDA entity in the UAE, combining the two companies' technologies and facilitating knowledge transfer. A dedicated joint team will operate in-country, working closely with MBDA's missile engineering center established in Abu Dhabi in 2023. UAE-based engineers and technicians will be involved throughout the certification process.

Fly-R CEO Laurent Collet-Billon — a former head of France's defense procurement agency (DGA) — told Les Echos that annual production is expected to reach thousands of units, with the exact figure classified.

The program takes on added strategic importance against the backdrop of the collapse of Franco-Emirati co-financing negotiations for the Rafale F5 in late 2025. With Abu Dhabi withdrawing from next-generation fighter cooperation, the Diamond Shaped production contract serves as a tangible demonstration to the UAE that the 2021 Rafale package continues to deliver industrial benefits.

System Design and Operational Capabilities

Diamond Shaped is derived from Fly-R's R2-120 Raijin, a tube-launched loitering munition featuring a patented foldable diamond-shaped wing design that the company claims delivers twice the performance of conventional designs of equivalent size.

The system has a maximum take-off weight of 8 kg and can carry a payload of up to 2 kg. MBDA's specifications for the UAE-specific Diamond Shaped variant are as follows:

• Endurance: Up to 60 minutes
• Operational radius: 50 km
• Terminal dive speed: 270 km/h

Operators control the munition via a ground control station; once target designation is complete, onboard AI activates autonomous terminal guidance. The tube-launched, compact form factor makes it suitable for infantry deployment as well as integration on vehicles, surface vessels, and aerial platforms. Intended targets include armored vehicles, fast inshore attack craft, and unmanned surface vehicles.

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