EDGE Enters the list of Top 25 Global Arms Manufacturers

EDGE Group makes history by being the first time in history when an arms manufacturer from the Middle East enters the list of the top 25 global arms manufacturers. The "Global Arms Industry" report for the year 2019 was published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) .

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EDGE Group of the United Arab Emirates ranked 22nd and accounted for 1.3 per cent of total arms sales of the top 25, said SIPRI in its report.

"EDGE is a good illustration of how the combination of high national demand for military products and services with a desire to become less dependent on foreign suppliers is driving the growth of arms companies in the Middle East," said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme.

“Since the establishment of Edge Group a year ago, we have focused on setting goals, eliminating duplication in production and between companies, aligning vision and resources among the 25 companies. Within the group. We are working on a coherent roadmap to accelerate product development and build human capacity. We have obtained the approval of the relevant authorities in the United Arab Emirates about the development strategy that we will adopt for the next 3-5 years,” the CEO of EDGE Group, Faisal Al Bannai said in an interview with SD Arabia.

According to him, the Covid-19 crisis did not affect the work of the group.

“Regarding the current volume of our business, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, we are not witnessing a retreat, but rather we have conducted a review to determine priorities. We are a major player locally, but we are working to obtain our share of the international market, either through our local products or the products we work on with our partners. With Corona, we only see re-focus and re-prioritization based on the existing data, but the strategy is for the long term and is not affected by short-term events," said Al Bananni in this interview.

The EDGE Group PJSC has a combined annual revenue of over US$5 billion and has more than 12,000 employees working across its five core clusters: 

  • Platforms & Systems
  • Missiles & Weapons
  • Cyber Defence
  • Electronic Warfare & Intelligence
  • Mission Support

The Group was established in November 2019 consolidating more than 25 entities, from Emirates Defence Industries Company (EDIC), Emirates Advanced Investments Group (EAIG), Tawazun Holding, and other independent organisations.

SIPRI's report covers the sales and services of the largest 25 companies in this sector. According to SIRPRI, arms sales for these top 25 companies increased 8.5 % more than in 2018

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