EDGE Europe and Italy's Novamarine Agree to Explore Autonomous Naval Drones

The agreement is non-binding. According to Defense Arabia, which carried the announcement under an Abu Dhabi and Paris dateline, the two sides will look at building uncrewed boats that use an autonomous control system supplied through EDGE. Novamarine, which designs and builds high-performance boats for leisure and professional customers and is listed on Euronext Growth Milan, would provide the platforms from its facility in Olbia, Sardinia.

Two other Abu Dhabi entities are part of the plan. The Technology Innovation Institute (TII), the applied research arm of Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Research Council, would supply the autonomous navigation and control system. Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB), EDGE's naval shipbuilding business, would handle full integration, according to Defense Arabia. Italian financial daily Milano Finanza described the division of work slightly differently, saying EDGE Group would supply and integrate the onboard autonomous navigation systems.

Who Said What

Francesco Pirro, president and chief executive of Novamarine, called the agreement an important step in the company's growth through innovation, Milano Finanza reported. He said it would combine Novamarine's experience in designing and building high-performance boats with advanced autonomous navigation.

Khaled Al Zaabi, president of EDGE's Platforms and Systems division, said the companies would explore how autonomous surface vessels can carry out a wide range of missions at sea while keeping personnel out of harm's way, according to the same report. He pointed to the combination of Novamarine's platforms, TII's navigation expertise and ADSB's systems integration.

Novamarine is showing its first two unmanned models at its Euronaval stand. Milano Finanza said they mark the debut of a new line of naval drones for tasks including search and rescue, and that the exhibited units carry equipment from Rohde and Schwarz for counter-drone protection, Rotax for propulsion, Orqa for aerial drones and Teledyne for thermal imaging and radar. Euronaval runs until November 6.

Why It Matters

The deal is a small but telling step in EDGE's European push. The group launched EDGE Europe in Paris in June 2026 with a stated model of building in Europe, hiring European talent and working with established local companies, according to Defense Arabia. Partnering with an Italian hull maker gives EDGE a European production base for autonomous maritime systems while keeping the software and integration work with Abu Dhabi entities, including TII, the government research body behind much of the emirate's autonomy and AI work.

For Novamarine, the tie-up offers a route into the professional and defence-adjacent market at a difficult moment. The company reported on September 29 that its first-half 2026 profit had halved to €1 million, even as revenue rose 13% to €16.6 million, and it expects full-year production value to come in below last year's, Milano Finanza said. Its shares closed up 5.13% at €8.20 on November 3.

The memorandum covers a development phase whose scope is still to be defined, and no financial terms or production volumes were disclosed. Any binding contract would follow later.