The EDGE, UAE Ministry of Defence, Brazilian Army and IMBEL Letter of Intent signing in Abu Dhabi. Photo: EDGE Group.
In an announcement on 13 October 2026, EDGE Group said it had signed a Letter of Intent in Abu Dhabi with the UAE Ministry of Defence, the Brazilian Army and Indústria de Material Bélico do Brasil (IMBEL). Represented by its General Staff, the Brazilian Army joined an agreement intended to guide future joint initiatives in military, operational, industrial, technological, commercial and governmental activity.
The Letter of Intent follows the 2014 Brazil-UAE Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Defence and the 2019 agreement covering the exchange and mutual protection of classified information and materials. It provides direction for talks on Brazilian Army solutions that align with the Force Transformation 40 process and strengthen Brazil's Defence Industrial Base.
The parties' roles are defined in the agreement: the UAE Ministry of Defence supplies the governmental and bilateral dimension, the Brazilian Army sets out operational requirements and modernization priorities, and IMBEL contributes sovereign Brazilian defence industrial capability. EDGE brings its integrated portfolio, systems expertise and industrial presence in Brazil.
EDGE Managing Director and CEO Hamad Al Marar said the company would "commit its portfolio, its engineers and its industrial presence in Brazil" to the modernization of the Brazilian Army and its defence industrial base. The release left specific systems, quantities, values and a timeline unspecified.
The agreement extends EDGE's presence in Brazil, which it has developed largely through local acquisitions. On 4 September 2026, EDGE completed the acquisition of São José dos Campos-based aerospace engineering company AKAER. SIATT took a minority stake to maintain AKAER's Empresa Estratégica de Defesa status.
Established in 1992, AKAER is already collaborating with EDGE on unmanned systems development and industrialization and has accumulated more than 10 million engineering hours across military and commercial aerospace programs.
EDGE holds a 50% stake in SIATT, a Brazilian specialist in smart weapons. In September 2024, EDGE and SIATT entered a strategic partnership with the Brazilian Navy to complete the National Anti-Ship Missile (MANSUP)'s development. The partnership built on a letter of intent valued at about US$164 million.
In November 2025, EDGE and the Brazilian Navy moved their jointly developed anti-drone system into its next phase, with delivery of the first capability package planned for 2026. SIATT and Safran subsequently outlined a path for strategic defence cooperation in Brazil in September 2026.
IMBEL's earlier work with the EDGE ecosystem included the integration of its radios into a secure communications system offered by EDGE and SIATT to CENSIPAM, Brazil's Amazon Protection System agency. The system brought together EDGE's KATIM X3M secure smartphone, SIATT's SATCOM link and command-and-control software.
The Brazilian agreement followed by several days EDGE's signing of a drone weapons contract and a local production MoU with Morocco at the Marrakech Air Show. The Moroccan contract calls for DESERT STING 16 and THUNDER P-31 integration across the Royal Moroccan Air Force's unmanned combat aircraft fleet.
Discussions on specific solutions for the Brazilian Army are now the parties' next step. EDGE said it wants to translate their shared ambition into "concrete programmes of work".
