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The American agency “Bloomberg” said that the UAE will export to Germany the first home-made air defense missile for the German security company, Rheinmetall.
According to the agency, the “Halcon” unit of the UAE-owned Edge Group designed the “SkyKnight” missile system to provide early warning signals and counter-threats from aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles and missiles.
According to the agency, this comes within the framework of the UAE’s expansion in the production and export of military technology, as that missile system will be part of the defense system “Skynex” of the German company “Rheinmetall”.
The US agency reports that the UAE has pledged to localize military industries and exports, in an effort to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on foreign companies.
The oil-rich UAE is expanding the production and export of weapons amid a push to diversify its economy and reduce its dependence on foreign companies specializing in the fields of defense.
Last year, the Abu Dhabi-owned company, Edge, accounted for 1.3% of global arms sales, and was ranked 22nd out of the world’s 25 largest companies, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Bloomberg quoted Faisal Al-Bannai, CEO of Edge, which specializes in autonomous technologies, smart missiles and electronic warfare, as saying that he expects sales to grow by up to 15% in 2021, surpassing the $ 5 billion threshold it achieved last year.
Al-Bannai stressed that although electronic warfare systems have only had a limited presence in the Edge portfolio at present, the company plans to become a global player by innovating advanced products in the next two years.
“The goal is not to meet basic solutions, but to provide truly advanced solutions,” Al-Bannai said.
Abu Dhabi established Edge in November 2019 and included 25 companies under its umbrella, making it one of the largest defense groups in the Middle East.
Source: Bloomberg
