UAE industrial trade show highlights defense localization push
One such agreement, signed Wednesday between the Emirati Tawazun Council and French firm Thales, establishes a production facility for Ground Master series air surveillance radars in the UAE.
This photograph shows a Ground Master 200 (GM200) medium range radar, manufactured by French company Thales, on a testing platform at Thales’ radar production site in Limours, south-west of Paris, on April 10, 2025. (Photo by STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/AFP via Getty Images)
BEIRUT — The 2025 “Make it in the Emirates” industrial trade show this week was primarily a commercial affair, but saw a number of defense agreements signed meant to bring more defense systems manufacturing to the United Arab Emirates.
One such agreement, signed Tuesday between the Emirati Tawazun Council and French firm Thales, establishes a production facility for Ground Master series air surveillance radars in the UAE.
The facility, which is expected to be operational by 2027, “will serve as a strategic asset, bolstering the UAE’s defence manufacturing capabilities, enhancing self-sufficiency in critical technologies, and providing flexibility to address varying operational requirements,” according to a statement from Thales.
“The project is not only focused on building the radar system, but also on qualifying domestic suppliers, it further contributes to strengthening the national industrial base and promoting long-term self-reliance,” the statement added.
Sector Chief of Defence and Security Industry Affairs at Tawazun Council Matar Ali Al Romaithi said in the statement that the “initiative enhances national capabilities in air surveillance radar systems while creating significant opportunities for local companies to grow, innovate, and compete globally.”
The facility will become the first Thales radar production facility in the Middle East and North Africa region, though the value of the agreement was not disclosed.
In a second agreement, Thales and Tawazun Council signed on to the “Go to UAE” program. The program is meant to “empower more than 20 certified local suppliers … with work packages worth AED600 million [$163 million USD],” according to a LinkedIn post from the Tawazun Council.
“The initiative aims to integrate local suppliers into the global supply chains of Thales and other leading defence and technology companies by equipping them to meet top international standards and enabling access to long-term, high-value projects both locally and globally,” a statement from the Tawazun Council said.
UAE defense conglomerate EDGE Group also signed its share of defense localization agreements. EDGE entity TRUST and South African firm ADG Mobility signed a Memorandum of Understanding to “establish a strategic framework for future collaboration on the design, development, and manufacturing of specialised land systems equipment, including specialised vehicles, in the UAE,” a Wednesday statement from EDGE said.
TRUST also signed today an MOU with South African firm Specialist Mechanical Engineers to “design, develop, and manufacture specialised land systems equipment, including APU/ACU and mechanical systems, within the UAE,” a statement from EDGE said.
EDGE Group has been working toward localizing its defense production, and said in a statement on Tuesday that 80 percent of its 220 products are manufactured in the UAE with 170 manufacturing facilities in Abu Dhabi.
The “Make it in the Emirates” event ran in parallel to the UAE’s longer term Vision 2030 push, which, like Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, aims to localize industrial production, including for defense programs.
