King Abdulaziz University Secures Third Place Worldwide at SUAS 2026

King Abdulaziz University (KAU) achieved third place worldwide in Technical Design at the international SUAS 2026 unmanned aircraft competition, held in the United States with the participation of more than 80 university teams from around the world.

 

The University team also secured eighth place worldwide in Mission Demonstration, competing with an unmanned aircraft designed and developed entirely by KAU students in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

Development of the aircraft involved the design, construction and integration of its mechanical, electronic and software systems, as well as testing, operation and carrying out competition missions. The team also developed a custom flight-control system to manage operations and monitor mission performance in accordance with competition requirements.

 

SUAS is an international competition specializing in unmanned aircraft systems and is designed to test university teams’ ability to develop autonomous aircraft capable of independently performing a range of missions. These include navigation to designated points, aerial mapping, AI-based object detection and classification, and precision payload delivery.

 

This achievement highlights the capabilities of King Abdulaziz University students in designing and developing unmanned aircraft systems locally and applying engineering technologies, artificial intelligence and autonomous systems in practical applications. It also reinforces KAU’s presence in international scientific and engineering competitions.