Al Defaiya: A year after your appointment as President - Missiles & Weapons at EDGE Group, how do you best define your immediate goals, and the main challenges towards achieving them?
Al Dahbashi: My objectives are to lead and support the growing smart weapons and firearms ecosystems within the cluster, and to ensure our development roadmap of advanced and disruptive systems remains on the right track. The challenge is the scale at which we are doing so. We are simultaneously developing the latest technology in smart weapons and firearms, rapidly investing in a synergised industrial hub for localised manufacturing, and growing our international footprint.
The bottom line, however, is that we are rising to this challenge. In just five years, EDGE has captured a major share of the global precision-guided weapons market, and that is thanks to an aggressive product development roadmap that has been built on a strong industrial blueprint.
Al Defaiya: What other longer-term objectives do you still aspire to attain during the rest of your term?
Al Dahbashi: The long-term objectives for the Missiles & Weapons Cluster include rapidly maturing solutions that meet operational requirements and evolving security landscapes that are unique to certain regions. To achieve this, we are heavily investing in talent, partnerships, and emerging technologies.
In terms of attracting talent, it is important to understand that EDGE not only provides the opportunity to work on advanced defence systems, but also to develop novel and first-of-its-kind capabilities in the region. This foundation to provide unique opportunities for growth is noted in our workforce of over 17,000 people from over 95 countries.
Our partnerships also speak for themselves. EDGE has already founded 25 joint ventures, all aimed at addressing a specific security challenge while enabling sovereign production.
Lastly, our investments in emerging technologies continue to grow at pace. To give one example, we have dedicated centres of excellence for advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), to ensure the efficacy and efficiency of integrating these technologies, and to provide next-generation capabilities to our customers.
Al Defaiya: Your current role includes the supervision and strategic orientation for business development at various units of EDGE Group, including AL TARIQ, CARACAL, CARACAL LIGHT AMMUNITION, HALCON, and LAHAB: What main products in these entities represent a real potential for exports?
Al Dahbashi: All our products have major export potential, and that is if they have not already been exported.
Our smart weapons portfolio, including the mission-proven and highly modular AL TARIQ line of all-weather, day/night, long-range precision-guided munitions (PGMs), DESERT STING line of guided-glide weapons, and THUNDER family of cost-effective PGMs, has seen export success and is in service with more than one country.
The same goes for our firearms. In September 2025, CARACAL was awarded a contract to supply 200 CSR 338 sniper rifles to India’s Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
A critical point to understand about our export strategy is that, firstly, having the UAE Armed Forces as a primary customer requires our solutions to meet the highest standards, both in terms of advanced capabilities and reliability in harsh environments. Secondly, we take a tailored approach to our business models for each potential customer. For example, CARACAL’s contract with India’s CRPF was achieved through significant collaboration and investment in India’s local industry, including the establishment of a local manufacturing facility in Hyderabad.
Al Defaiya: In addition to Condor and SIATT of Brazil, what other Joint Ventures (JVs) or acquisitions has the Missiles & Weapons division of EDGE Group been involved in thus far? How do you evaluate the outcomes of such JVs and acquisitions?
Al Dahbashi: CONDOR and SIATT are currently the primary acquisitions within the Missiles & Weapons cluster, and it is important to consider the value in these acquisitions. Through our 51% stake in CONDOR and 50% in SIATT, we have swiftly introduced advanced non-lethal systems and expanded our smart weapon capabilities within our portfolio. The result is that our customers have rapidly gained access to critical systems that are needed in their modernisation programmes, while CONDOR and SIATT have been able to grow their operations.
In January 2024, we announced the major expansion of SIATT’s manufacturing base in São Paulo. In September 2025, we inaugurated its new headquarters and production facility, spanning 6,000 square metres, including state-of-the-art engineering facilities, research and development laboratories, and production lines.
The investment has already paid off as we are in the process of integrating SIATT’s advanced MANSUP surface-to-surface missile (SSM) launcher onto EDGE’s RABDAN FA-400 fast attack vessel, signed contracts to deliver the MANSUP and MANSUP-ER (extended range) to the Brazilian Navy and the MAX 1.2 anti-tank missile to the Brazilian Marine Corps, and signed a licence agreement for the transfer of intellectual property ownership of the MANSUP-ER.
A final point to consider is that we place a strong focus on the requirements of our customers, which plays a significant role in our acquisitions and JVs. If the demand for a certain technology or capability arises, EDGE has the agility and speed to be in a position to offer it.
Al Defaiya: EDGE is a Main Sponsor of the upcoming Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition (DIMDEX 2026). EDGE is also a major exhibitor at the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX 2025) and the World Defense Show (WDS 2026) in Saudi Arabia: How important are these regional shows to your Group?
Al Dahbashi: Since launching in 2019, EDGE has led the way regionally and globally in the pursuit of advances in the defence industry. This stellar growth, which has seen us increase our product range more than tenfold, has been fuelled by investing in true innovation, and by placing major resources in the development of sovereign capabilities, both in talent and in high-quality manufacturing.
Our presence at these defence exhibitions mirrors the UAE’s close bilateral and multilateral relationships across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. We have established partnerships with defence industries in the region that range from ammunition to cybersecurity infrastructure to space-based earth observation.
Sovereignty and in-country value are a critical element to many customers and EDGE takes great strides in supporting such initiatives through meaningful and mutually beneficial partnerships. Additionally, we place a major priority on engaging with customers and end-users in the region in order to gain a profound understanding of their operational and threat environments. Our participation and display of an advanced, multi-domain portfolio of solutions at these exhibitions are a direct reflection of this understanding.
