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2023-05-01

EDGE Makes Inroads into Latin America with Major Presence at LAAD

EDGE, one of the fastest growing and leading advanced technology and defence groups, concluded its successful participation at LAAD 2023, Latin America’s largest biennial defence and security exhibition, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from April 11 to 14, 2023.

Ten of EDGE’s portfolio companies showcased approximately 50 advanced solutions and products covering the domains of autonomous air, land, and maritime systems, naval systems, precision-guided munitions, small arms and ammunition, and electronic warfare.

The group strongly highlighted the vast export potential of EDGE’s products and solutions to the Brazilian market, and others across the continent.

The event came close on the heels of EDGE’s successful participation at the IDEX 2023 defence exhibition in Abu Dhabi, where it announced major sales contracts worth US$ 5 billion, over US$1.1 billion of which were in international export deals, and where it launched 14 new products, including 11 breakthrough autonomous and unmanned products and solutions.

The EDGE stand at the LAAD event was visited by several high-ranking military delegations, dignitaries, partner companies, and customers, as well as regional and international defence and business media.

Regional Office

Among the major highlights of the show was the announcement by EDGE that it was opening a regional office for Latin America, which would be located in Brazil’s national capital, Brasilia, and managed by a team of highly experienced industry professionals.

The office will enable EDGE to expand the scope of its services, products and solutions, within Brazil and other markets on the continent, forge new partnerships, and to promote its unique and competitive offerings for the development of national defence capabilities across the region.

Naval Partnership

In another significant development, EDGE signed a joint development agreement with the Brazilian Navy, which would see the new partners pursue co-creation and business opportunities for a long-range anti-ship missile and a ground-to-ground supersonic missile that exceed current market capabilities.

Leveraging the Brazilian Navy’s current portfolio of missiles and its extensive fleet for testing purposes, EDGE will bring to the table its technological know-how in smart weapons and electronic warfare for the development of high performance, low-cost missiles to meet growing global demand.

First Participation

Mansour AlMulla, EDGE Group Managing Director and CEO, stated: “Our first participation at LAAD 2023, EDGE Group’s inaugural foray into Latin America, has been a resounding success. It presents us and our partners with a wealth of valuable opportunities, firstly for us to showcase our portfolio of disruptive and highly competitive defence capabilities, particularly in the areas of autonomous systems, smart weapons, electronic warfare, and secure communications.”

He added: “The inauguration of our new LATAM regional office in Brasilia is a major milestone for us, and a base from which we can move forward with plans to provide our customers with a diverse range of solutions tailored to highly specialised requirements, and to provide tangible commercial benefits to all parties, in support of security and economic growth. We look forward to EDGE’s future on the continent with considerable optimism.”

On the agreement with Brazilian Navy, Mansour Almulla noted: “Bringing together the Brazilian Navy’s IP-owned solutions with our extensive design, technological development, and integration expertise, we are very optimistic about the potential of this new strategic collaboration. It will enable us to develop advanced long-range anti-ship and supersonic missiles that exceed current performance at an accelerated rate and at low cost, which will ultimately benefit our end users. Forging strategic alliances with global players is a key pillar of EDGE’s strategy which will support our objectives in bolstering our sovereign capabilities and increasing the export potential of our products and solutions in line with the UAE Leadership’s directive.”

Vice Admiral Marco Antonio Ismael Trovão de Oliveira said: “Signing a joint development agreement with EDGE marks the beginning of a long-term partnership with a global technology leader that will expand the range of capabilities for Brazilian and allied forces to achieve their missions. Our expertise in anti-ship missiles will be complemented by EDGE’s cutting-edge technologies and advanced capabilities, enabling us to share knowledge and cooperatively develop state-of-the-art solutions for the global market.”

Strategic Agreements

Other strategically important agreements to capitalise on joint synergies for the exploration of mutually beneficial business opportunities were signed with Condor, a global leader in non-lethal technologies; SIATT, which specialises in smart weapons and high-tech system integration; Kryptus, a multinational provider of highly customisable, reliable and secure encryption, cybersecurity and cyber defence solutions; and AKAER, which specialises in providing technological solutions in aerospace and defence.

Under the terms of the MoU, EDGE and Kryptus will collaborate to enhance cyber capabilities and collectively pursue strategic opportunities in the advanced technology and defence markets. Kryptus develops, integrates and deploys a wide array of solutions for hardware, firmware and software, ranging from semiconductors to complex digital certificate management systems, having a specialised technical team on cryptographic engineering and information security.

The agreement with Brazilian company SIATT provides a framework for the companies to combine expertise and explore potential collaboration opportunities to enhance technologies and capabilities in the UAE and Brazilian markets.

The EDGE-Condor strategic deal is designed to combine the companies’ capabilities, and assess the viability and feasibility of jointly identifying and implementing business opportunities across the UAE and Brazilian markets

The MoU with Brazilian company AKAER provides a framework for the companies to combine expertise and deliver critical capabilities to support end users. AKAER has been operating since 1992 in the segments aerospace, defence and industry 4.0, having participated in the main programmes in these segments in both Brazil and abroad, offering services of high technological content and innovative solutions.

Varied Domains

In the domain of autonomous air systems, EDGE showcased the HUNTER SP (Soldier Portable) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the tube-launched HUNTER 2-S swarming UAV system, and the REACH-S unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV).

The QX-1, QX-2, QX-3 series of loitering munitions, and the new QX6-50 fixed-wing logistic UAV were also displayed, along with the GARMOOSHA rotary-wing UAV.

High Lander, in which EDGE holds a major shareholding, displayed its Universal UTM (Universal Traffic Management) system for drone operations, and its interactive Mission Control Platform.

Autonomous land systems and solutions were represented by the Milrem THeMIS Combat unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) and the Multiscope Rescue UGV.

In the domain of precision-guided munitions, EDGE showcased its multi-range Thunder and Desert Sting air-to-surface precision-guided munitions, the Skyknight air defence missile, the NASEF low cost cruise missile, the Al Tariq-S (Standard Range), and Al Tariq- LR (Long Range) advanced, modular precision-guided munitions, in addition to the Rash 1-M, Rash 2-H, and Rash 2-M precision-guided munition systems.

For small arms and ammunition, EDGE displayed its Caracal F pistols, CMP 9 submachine guns, CAR 816 and CAR 817 assault rifles, and CSR 50, CSR 308, and CSR 338 sniper rifles, and a full range of small calibre ammunition.

EDGE’s advanced naval capabilities include the ADSB 160 ITEP (Inshore Tactical Engagement Platform), 120 FIP (Fast Inshore Platform), 510 OPV (Offshore Patrol Vessel), and the 170 M-Detector USV (Unmanned Surface Vessel).

The group’s extensive electronic warfare solutions include the GNSS anti-jamming system, GPS-Protect, its sophisticated NAVCONTROL-G spoofing system, the V-Protect radio frequency (RF) communication jamming system, and the Active CELL-A airborne cellular solution.

LAAD 2023 took place with the institutional support of the Brazilian Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces, Ministry of Justice, the Brazilian Public Security structure, and brought together international manufacturers and suppliers of defence and technology solutions for Armed Forces, Special Forces, Law Enforcement, and high-ranking executives from the defence and security industry, government agencies, large corporations, and those in charge of critical infrastructure.

Global Footprint

EDGE’s global footprint now covers 30 countries across five continents – North and South America, Europe, Africa, Asia.

The group has a clear focus on highly price-competitive and technologically advanced Autonomous Systems, Smart Weapons, and Cyber Technologies, among other critical capabilities. EDGE’s aggressive product development roadmap has been built on a strong industrial blueprint, which has seen it increase the number of its products to over 115, a substantial four-fold increase in products offerings since its launch in November 2019.

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