At the end of Dubai Airshow in November 2023, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Ministry of Defense signed a contract with the EDGE Group, one of the world’s leading advanced technology and defense conglomerates, to buy 100 Reach-S fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).
“The development of the Reach-S, one of the first locally made medium- altitude, long-endurance UAVs, marks a significant milestone for EDGE,” Senior Vice President of Advanced Concepts Saeed Al Mansoori said. “Thanks to the dedicated team at Advanced and Concepts, we have successfully completed two flight tests and a weapon release campaign for the Reach-S, and we are currently gearing up for a long-endurance flight test.”
EDGE Group, a UAE state-owned conglomerate, was established in 2019 and consists of 25 companies providing military and civilian products and services.
With EDGE Group leading the effort, UAE, the second-largest military equipment customer in the Middle East and the 14th largest in the world, embarked on a two-pronged military strategic plan: to diversify the sources of foreign military purchases and localize military industries.
“There will be greater reliance on domestic production and the relations with international companies will be based on the transfer of technology through partnerships with local defense companies,” said Mohammed Baharoon, the director general of the Dubai Public Policy Research Center.
At the same event, EDGE Group signed a partnership agreement with General Atomics-Aeronautical Systems to integrate UAE-made weapons onto the MQ-9B Sky/SeaGuardian uncrewed aircraft system.
Also, the group signed two memorandums of understanding with Raytheon Emirates in February 2023 to align on production goals and contribute to Raytheon’s global supply chain.
“The current trend is to localize the defense industry in the region and there will be more partnerships with international companies and further diversifications of the sources of the weapons to avoid dependency on one side,” said Albader Alshateri, professor at the National Defense University in the UAE.