Abu Dhabi defense firm EDGE, whose book value last year was roughly $5 billion, won the biggest deal, a 4.7-billion-dirham contract for its subsidiary Halcon to supply Desert Sting P5 precision guided glide systems, Tawazun Council said in a statement.

Halcon also signed a 1.1-billion-dirham deal for its Hunter systems.

The UAE pacts with the local companies were worth 7.6 billion dirhams, while contracts with international firms totaled just 543 million dirhams, Tawazun said.

This occurred despite a heavy presence of foreign firms at this year's International Defense Exhibition (IDEX), including major companies from the United States and Europe.

Another EDGE subsidiary, ADASI, clinched a 1.33-billion-dirham deal for its Shadow jet-powered loitering munition system.

"We had a total of $5 billion worth of booked orders last year," EDGE chairman Faisal al-Bannai told Reuters, adding that roughly $1.4 billion were export orders to roughly nine or 10 countries.

"EDGE has clients in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Europe, he said.

EDGE's Halcon is now selling a UAV named Reach-S for $1.1 million, which "is a 70 percent reduced price," Al Bannai said, adding EDGE wants to "disrupt" the industry.

He said the firm is also selling loitering drones for $29,000, versus what he said is an industry average of between $140,000 and $170,000.

"Today some of the highest-demand products due to what's happening around the world are loitering drones [...] and UAVs," Al Bannai said.

Anton Pashynskyi, chief business development officer at Ukraine state-owned Ukroboronprom, said the UAE and other Gulf countries could learn from Ukraine's experience in facing Iran-made drones.

"We are fighting not only with Russian equipment. We are fighting also against Iranian equipment," he said.

Ukraine had a small presence inside the main hall of IDEX, near other European countries. Russia had a much larger presence, though in the naval section of the exhibition.

Ukraine's appearance at the IDEX was to seek partners and suppliers to boost its defense industry amid the war with Russia, as well as to maintain ties with existing clients in the UAE and other Gulf countries, Pashynskyi said.

 

Russian presence

Russian firms, including Kalashnikov and Rosoboronexport, displayed assault rifles, missiles and drones at the Naval Defense & Maritime Security Exhibition (NAVDEX), part of the biennial IDEX event.

Men in traditional Emirati garb known as thobe, as well as military-uniformed men from India, Pakistan and other states, were seen engaging with Russian firms' delegates. At least three Russian companies approached by Reuters declined to speak.

The UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have not adopted Western sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, have resisted US pressure to break links with Russia, with which they have energy and economic ties.

The chief executive of BrahMos Aerospace, an India-Russia joint venture, said the firm was moving forward in talks launched five years ago with the UAE for the firm's supersonic cruise missiles, which can be launched from sea, land and air.

"We are in conversation of course with the UAE and other neighboring countries," Atul D. Rane told Reuters, describing the talks with the UAE as advanced after having slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

UAE authorities did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Many arms-producing nations vie for influence and contracts from wealthy Gulf Arab countries, especially the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which have moved to diversify their defense partners and want to develop their own industries.

The UAE and Bahrain forged ties with Israel in 2020 partly due to a shared concern over Iran, whose missile and drone capabilities are seen as a threat by Gulf Arab states.

Organizers said 65 countries were taking part in IDEX, which runs to Feb. 24, including major US defense conglomerates such as Raytheon Technologies, Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

The UAE said on Monday it signed deals worth 4.5 billion dirhams with local and international firms, including a 1.5-billion-dirham deal with Indonesia’s state-owned shipbuilder PT PAL to procure multi-mission vessels and a 421-million-dirham contract with France's Thales for GM403 radars.