UAE Launches New Company ‘Edge’ to Spearhead Defence Industry

On 05 November, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) announced that it has consolidated its 25 state-owned defence enterprises into one company, Edge Group.

In addition to providing new solutions for the domestic and foreign markets, Edge Group is aiming to both speed-up the development of innovative solutions, and deliver them at more competitive prices.

“Established with a core mandate to disrupt and antiquated military industry generally stifled by red tape, Edge is set to bring products to market faster and at more cost-effective price points,” said the new chief executive officer and managing director of Edge Group, Faisal Al Bannai.

Through the UAE’s existing 25 defence companies, such as NIMR Automotive, Barij Dynamics, Caracal and others, Edge Group gain over 12,000 employees and dozens of product lines, especially in terms of small arms, armoured vehicles, surface warships, and precision-guided air-to-surface munitions.

According to Defense News, Edge Group will focus on the UAE industry’s current core clusters: electronic warfare and electronic intelligence, platforms; munitions, cyber defence, and mission support.

In addition to continuing the UAE industry’s current production work, Edge Group will spearhead research and development projects in the country. Moreover, it is possible that Edge Group will collaborate with foreign defence suppliers on development.

By consolidating its existing 25 companies, the UAE has formed one of the Middle East’s larger armament suppliers (especially outside of Turkey and Saudi Arabia).

It is possible that an intended outcome of forming Edge Group is to identify and exploit synergy between each subsidiary, so as to ensure the efficient use of resources and to develop more complex solutions.

This formation could potentially lead the UAE to manufacturing more complex solutions, such as larger surface warships and/or aircraft. Likewise, Edge Group could also expand the UAE’s defence production efforts by facilitating offsets and joint investments with foreign companies.