{"id":92367,"date":"2024-12-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/12\/10\/frances-xsun-to-produce-solar-powered-drones-in-saudi\/"},"modified":"2024-12-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T00:00:00","slug":"frances-xsun-to-produce-solar-powered-drones-in-saudi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/enterpriseam.com\/ksa\/2024\/12\/10\/frances-xsun-to-produce-solar-powered-drones-in-saudi\/","title":{"rendered":"France\u2019s XSun to produce solar-powered drones in Saudi"},"content":{"rendered":"

Qaddiya Air signed an <\/strong>agreement<\/a><\/strong> with France's autonomous drone maker <\/strong>XSun<\/a><\/strong> to <\/strong>establish a factory producing solar-powered drones in Riyadh, <\/strong>XSun's CEO Benjamin David told Asharq Business<\/a> last week. The factory is set to begin operations early next year and XSun will fully transfer the tech to Saudi Arabia within three years, Qaddiya Air\u2019s Mohammed AI Harbi told Ashraq Business.<\/p>\n

(** Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links<\/strong> to our background and outside sources.)<\/p>\n

The initial phase will include making two drones for USD 10 mn, including spare parts for <\/strong>six drones.<\/strong> The agreement includes training local cadres and pilots on the maintenance and operation of the drones.<\/p>\n

What we know so far: <\/strong>The zero emissions drones<\/a> \u2014 capable of flying for 12 hours during daylight and 4 hours at night \u2014 are designed for various applications, including reconnaissance, environmental monitoring, and agricultural surveillance.<\/p>\n

A big year ahead for Saudi green aviation:<\/strong> Test flights for the eVTOL aircraft Saudia Airlines purchased from Germany\u2019s Lilium are set for February 2025<\/a>. The tests will be followed by training pilots and developing infrastructure until deliveries start to trickle in by 2H 2026. Saudi Arabia\u2019s pilotless, two-person EH216 eVTOL \u2014 which can fly for up to 40 km \u2014 also completed<\/a> its first trial last June, with more trials scheduled to support the Hajj season next year. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to come: <\/strong>US eVTOL manufacturer Joby Aviation \u2014 backed by Saudi Jameel Investment \u2014 inked a partnership agreement<\/a> with Aramco subsidiary Mukamalah Aviation to deploy eVTOLs in Saudi Arabia last May. Under the agreement, Mukamalah and Joby will work with Saudi\u2019s General Authority of Civil Aviation to speed up Joby\u2019s entry into the domestic market and line up direct eVTOL sales to Mukamalah. Brazilian company Eve Air Mobility<\/a> and German flying taxi maker Volocopter<\/a> are also active in the Kingdom. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The factory will initially manufacture two drones at a cost of USD 10 mn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":92368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_primary_brand":0,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2716],"tags":[10,2895,392,2706,689],"brand":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"class_list":["post-92367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manufacturing","tag-enterpriseam-ksa","tag-evtol","tag-manufacturing","tag-solar","tag-uae","wpautop","entry"],"acf":{"mongo_id":"abaeb640-c6c0-4af4-85c2-4e040d33eec7","order":"3","is_powered_by":false,"story_type":"1","photo_url":"https:\/\/ent.news\/2024\/12\/784.jpg","photo_position":"above","homepage_title":"","full_issue_title":"France\u2019s XSun to produce solar-powered drones in Saudi","related_issue":[92362],"teaser":"The factory will initially manufacture two drones at a cost of USD 10 mn","voice_url":"https:\/\/s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/ent.news\/audio\/2024\/12\/.cb0e5d7d-d2e6-4111-88c8-863d2a839d1a.mp3"},"yoast_head":"\nFrance\u2019s XSun to produce solar-powered drones in Saudi - 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