Microavia, the first UAE-based drone company, is gearing up to revolutionise the MENA region’s security sector with new age AI-based and heavy duty drones fit for uses across sectors, including law enforcement and border security, amid projections of a long-term high double-digit growth in the region’s currently estimated $1.2 billion commercial drone market.
Also on the drawing board are plans for significant capacity and product line expansions to cater to the rising demand in the MENA region, as also in many regions around the world, including Europe.
The company’s aggressive plans come in the midst of a major transition in the security sector, with companies and government bodies increasingly looking to integrate aerial and ground-based surveillance to effectively address emerging challenging security needs.
The fast emerging demand in mining, agriculture, and delivery services is another driver for the company’s expansion plans.
“We are actively developing new models, including heavy-duty drones designed for law enforcement and border security applications, as we anticipate a growth rate of 15-20% [in the GCC commercial drone market] in the coming years,”
Stan Savin, Regional Sales Director at Microavia, told Arabian Business.
“With our aerial security monitoring systems and geophysical exploration, we aim to revolutionize security in the MENA region by boosting effectiveness for businesses and authorities,” Savin said.
The company is hopeful of the UAE – as also other countries in the region – soon developing a comprehensive regulatory environment for the sector which will help its business to take off in a big way.
“Regulatory frameworks, especially concerning BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) operations, are still under development in many countries, impacting market size. The UAE, however, is [already] adopting best practices from the EU and the US, although a comprehensive regulatory environment is still in progress,” Savin said.
Dubai authorities announced in July that they are working together to map out drone routes and regulations in the city to frame, among other things, low-altitude flight paths for drones operating around the emirate.
Significant Investments Planned for Expansion
Savin said Microavia is the first UAE-based drone company localizing the entire manufacturing cycle in Dubai, and the company will be making “substantial” investments for development of new age products and capacity expansion.
“I’m unable to reveal specific figures,”
he said, adding that the company has already made significant investments in the UAE.
The Microavia senior executive said the company’s primary focus will be on the MENA region,
“although we do maintain a customer base in other areas, including Europe”.
“Our expansion strategy employs a dual approach, encompassing both direct and indirect sales,” he added.
Savin said the company’s focus has been on acquiring top talent – its team now has almost 70 employees—and equipping them with state-of-the-art tools.
He, however, said Microavia’s 2023 plans are relatively conservative, as it is looking to deliver under-100 units – stations and drones combined.
“It may sound like a relatively small number, but high-quality commercial drones take a while to assemble and test and, while much smaller than an airplane, you still must do a lot of testing and safety assurance,” he said.
Savin also pointed out that the company has nearly doubled its manufacturing capacity since 2022 when it started production, and as it moves forward, the team looks to bring even more units online.
Monitoring, Security Sectors to Drive Majority of Drone Demand in MENA
Savin said the company anticipates that the monitoring and security sectors will drive the majority of drone demand in the region – as well globally.
“The rationale is the growing imperative for safeguarding people and infrastructure. Solutions like Microavia’s ‘drone-in-a-box’ offer a significant advantage over traditional CCTV systems,” he said.
Microavia currently offers two specialized drone lines tailored to meet diverse mission requirements – ‘Drone Stations’ used for a range of monitoring, surveying, and analytics tasks, and ‘Medium Drones’ which are capable of carrying up to 12kg, typically used for geophysical sensing in mineral exploration.
Connected in a scenario-and-schedule-driven network of stations, the Microavia system enables autonomous area monitoring with manual takeover where appropriate and AI-enabled scenario triggering.
Microavia commenced its drone manufacturing operations in Dubai in 2022, with initial shipments going out that same year.
“In less than two years, Microavia has taken off, establishing sales and production and cementing its position as a prime example of the region’s rapid technological advancement,” Savin said.
Source: Arabian Business