News

2017-01-09

UAE’s indigenous defense industry climbs new heights

By Dr. Fahad Saif Harhara, CEO NIMR

As we celebrate our 45th anniversary as a nation, our indigenous defence industry is also climbing to new heights thanks to fresh impetus and inspiration from the government.

For over 20 years, the defense industry has been progressing in pace with the wider economy. This sector has always been a priority as our nation’s founding fathers placed a high priority on the safety and security of our people. More recently, the defense sector has been instrumental in driving forward the vision of our leadership to develop a modern, knowledge-based, industrial economy.

Today’s defense industry is a pillar of innovation, diversification, industrialisation and technology, providing UAE Nationals with high-skilled, progressive employment opportunities that make a valuable contribution to our nation’s economy.

The UAE’s burgeoning industry was born out of the government’s offsets program, established in 1992 under the Tawazun Economic Council. Since then, it has partnered with international contractors, brought investments and new technologies into UAE, generated knowledge-based jobs for UAE nationals and created business opportunities for indigenious companies.

This focus on offsets was an early sign of the direction of government policy, and in 2008 the initiative received a further boost from the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030, which aims to build a knowledge-based economy, diversifying away from hydrocarbons.

Over the decades, various entities such as Tawazun, Mubadala, EAIG and others have spawned a multitude of new UAE companies across various sectors. Some of these companies are now reaching a stage of maturity whereby they are operating major industrial hubs within Abu Dhabi, employing thousands of people and making a significant contribution to the national economy.

In 2014, the government of Abu Dhabi consolidated several defence companies into a new holding company called Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC) with the aim of increasing synergies to take the sector to new heights.

EDIC was established to help drive the UAE’s defense industry by providing manufacturing, training, mapping, logistics, technology development and communications as well as maintenance, repair and operations services for air, land and sea platforms. It is an integrated defence platform composed of 16 separate companies, benefiting from improved alignment, performance and increased capacity, which is better positioned to serve the UAE Armed Forces and compete for business in the region.

NIMR Automotive, one EDIC subsidiary, designs and manufactures light and medium-weight military vehicles at its state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Abu Dhabi. It was founded in 2000 and this year produced its 1,000th vehicle. NIMR also provides full lifecycle management including Integrated Logistic Support, maintenance, repair, technical support and spares to manage the entire fleet and variants deployed.

NIMR vehicles are in service with several armed forces across the Middle East and North Africa region and have a reputation for versatility, ruggedness and performance. They provide the tactical mobility required to meet a diverse range of operational requirements on the modern battlefield, particularly in the harshest and hottest conditions.

As the organization has grown so NIMR has sought to expand its global footprint further afield throughout the GCC as well as into Europe and Asia. This shows the level of product and organization maturity in seeking opportunities in developed and developing world economies.

NIMR’s products are proudly made in the UAE and our vision is to take these industry leading products to the rest of the world. In addition to its role in developing the economy and industrial base of the UAE, NIMR has a particular focus on developing technical and engineering skills among our Emirati population, we re-commit to developing new indigenous talent and expertise long in to the future.

Comments () Views (6649 ) Print

Send To Friend