Harmattan AI and Barzan Holdings Sign Pact to Test Autonomous Drone Defences in Qatar

The agreement, announced on November 3, covers demonstrations of Harmattan AI's autonomous systems. These include GOBI TEMPEST, which the company says is designed to counter Group 2-3 aerial threats, a category of mid-sized military drones, along with its mission orchestration software. The companies did not disclose any financial terms, and a memorandum of understanding does not commit either side to a purchase.

The deal matters for the Gulf because the region is buying more defences against drones, and buyers are moving away from expensive interceptor missiles toward cheaper, autonomous systems that can be built in large numbers. Barzan, which is wholly owned by the Qatari government, describes itself as the strategic procurement and investment arm of the country's Ministry of Defence, so a successful demonstration could lead to a route into Qatar's armed forces.

Harmattan AI chief executive and co-founder Mouad M'Ghari said: "New threats are emerging, and they require advanced autonomous technologies." He said that when facing swarms of hostile drones, "only a solution made of attritable, industrially scalable, autonomous systems can ensure the security of a strategic site." Attritable systems are ones cheap enough to be lost in use.

Barzan Holdings group chief executive Mohammed Bin Bader Al Sadah said "our priority is safeguarding Qatar's sovereignty and critical infrastructure," and pointed to the growing importance of counter-unmanned aerial systems. He described the partnership as "combining their proven autonomous expertise with our strategic national mandate."

Harmattan AI says its VSHORAD systems, in both kinetic and explosive versions, have recently been tested successfully with several NATO and allied forces.

Barzan already has other counter-drone partnerships. It has a joint venture with Rheinmetall and has worked with Italy's Fincantieri on a land-based counter-drone system shown at Qatar's DIMDEX exhibition earlier this year. The companies have not said when the GOBI TEMPEST demonstrations will take place.