A year-end promotional video released on 31 December by the UAE’s state-owned defence conglomerate Edge Group has drawn significant attention within international defence circles. The footage appears to show a Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicle, produced by Turkish defence company Baykar, at a UAE Air Force and Air Defence (AFAD) base for the first time.

In the video, military personnel are seen pushing the UAV out of a hangar, with a small guided munition mounted under each wing. The presence of beret-wearing personnel suggests that those handling the aircraft are active members of the armed forces rather than civilian employees. Several design features clearly resemble the Bayraktar TB2, including air intakes positioned on either side of the engine. This configuration differs from the single, larger top-mounted air intake found on Edge’s Reach-S UAV, helping to visually confirm the platform’s identity.

The location of the footage is also significant. The hangar opens onto a staggered series of hardened aircraft shelters, a layout that does not match Edge Group’s known testing facilities on Abu al-Abyad Island. Instead, this arrangement closely corresponds to the northern apron of Liwa Air Base, located in western Abu Dhabi. This strongly indicates that the Bayraktar TB2 may already be operating from an active UAE Air Force base.

Subsequent scenes in the video show an Emirati female officer, wearing the epaulettes of a first lieutenant, apparently piloting a UAV under the supervision of a civilian instructor. The control screen displays imagery from a tail-mounted camera with a visible propeller nacelle—another characteristic feature associated with the Bayraktar TB2 and not previously observed on the Reach-S platform.

If confirmed, the presence of the Bayraktar TB2 at Liwa Air Base would represent a concrete step in the deepening defence cooperation between Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. It would also mark an important enhancement of the UAE’s unmanned aerial capabilities, with potential implications for regional air power balance and reconnaissance-strike operations.