EDGE Strengthens Industry Partnerships at Dubai Airshow
UAE-based defense company EDGE Group has announced several collaborative agreements with other defense technology providers at the 2025 Dubai Airshow. Some of the deals focus on electronic warfare (EW) technologies and will see the company’s SIGN4L defense electronics subsidiary extend its access to regional markets around the world.
Spain’s Indra Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will see the PULSE NOVA joint venture – established in 2024 to develop and manufacture radars – expand into EW. The PULSE NOVA JV established two UAE-based entities: one focused on development, design, integration, sales and maintenance of radars and the other responsible for manufacturing these radars in a new factory located in Abu Dhabi. The new PULSE NOVA MoU creates a similar framework to explore EW opportunities outside of NATO and the EU.
In the EW market, Indra provides integrated RF EW suites for fighter aircraft, such as the ALQ-500P airborne radar jamming pod; directed infrared countermeasures (DIRCM) systems for transport and rotary-wing aircraft; shipboard EW suites, such as the Rigel; COMINT and ELINT systems; and ground-based radar and communications jammers. SING4L’s EW portfolio includes the SkyShield family of EW-based counter-UAS solutions, ground-based COMINT and direction-finding systems, and anti-jam SATNAV receivers.
The two companies also signed a separate MoU toward establishing a new joint venture in Spain that will focus on “development, production and maintenance of loitering munitions and smart weapons for the Spanish, European and selected international markets, with potential cooperation across defence programmes in Europe,” according to a press release.
Vietnam’s Viettel Group also signed an MoU with EDGE covering “potential broad cooperation in high-tech defence industry products and advanced technology,” according to a press release. The agreement “includes the potential development of an original equipment manufacturing model in Vietnam for components and modules connected to EDGE product lines, targeting the UAE and other export markets.” The company’s Viettel High Tech subsidiary offers an EW product line that includes ground-based COMINT and ELINT systems, as well as SATNAV jamming systems.
EDGE announced several other defense partnerships at the airshow, including the Federation of Italian Aerospace, Defence and Security Companies (AIAD), L3Harris, KAI, Republikorp, and Anduril. The MoU with AIAD builds on EDGE’s existing relationship with Italian companies ELT and Leonardo by extending defense technology collaboration to include small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Italy. L3Harris and EDGE will work together on “national and regional defense opportunities, with the MoU laying a framework for joint research and development in artificial intelligence and autonomy and for deploying these technologies.” The US$7 billion agreement with Indonesia’s Republikorp represents EDGE’s largest international program. It covers technology transfer, local production in Indonesia, co-development initiatives, and a comprehensive modernization program for the Indonesian Armed Forces, including “the SKYKNIGHT air defense missile system, next-generation infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), unmanned stealth missile boats, cyber defense, and small arms ammunition production capabilities,” according to the press announcement. Collaboration with Anduril will focus on development of autonomous systems.
EDGE introduced 42 new defense solutions at the airshow covering autonomous systems, smart weapons, propulsion systems, space capabilities, radar technologies, and secure communications. These include the ALQ-500P offered in partnership with Indra and the AMES-P ELINT pod co-developed with L3Harris. – J. Knowles
