PARIS — Spain’s Indra and state-owned Emirati defense-technology company Edge Group agreed to form an Abu Dhabi-based joint venture that will develop and manufacture next-generation radar systems, the latest in a spate of cross-border defense deals for both companies.
The joint venture will be able to access a pipeline of orders for almost 300 sophisticated radar systems in non-NATO and non-European Union countries, the companies said in a statement on Monday. They didn’t disclose financial details.
Indra this year already concluded separate agreements with Thales and Lockheed Martin to jointly work on defense systems, as the Spanish company seeks to bolster its Defence & Security division, one of its fastest-growing businesses.
“This agreement between the two companies can create one of the world’s leading players in the field of radar technology and is a step forward in Indra’s international expansion strategy,” Indra Chairman Marc Mutra said in the statement.
The joint venture will get “prime rights” for current and future non-NATO and non-EU orders awarded to Indra, the companies said. Indra and Edge didn’t immediately reply to emailed queries regarding the deal’s financials and agreements around technology sharing.
Indra last week agreed a defense collaboration with France’s Thales, with the companies seeing joint opportunities in radar systems, cybersecurity, communication systems and simulation. Both are already partners in the Future Combat Air System project, a German-French-Spanish collaboration aimed at fielding a next-generation fighter aircraft accompanied by drones. In January, Indra and Lockheed Martin agreed to explore cooperation in areas including radars and electronic-defense systems.
For the United Arab Emirates’ Edge Group, the venture with Indra follows on the heels of last month’s joint venture with Italy’s Fincantiere to supply naval vessels to non-NATO customers, with a potential pipeline of €30 billion.
Edge in February also signed a memorandum of understanding with Turkish Aerospace to provide its payloads and sensors for integration with the latter’s products, and announced the purchase of a majority stake in Estonia-based military-robot maker Milrem Robotics, a deal that had faced an EU security review.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the UAE in December, meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to discuss expanding economic ties between the countries, in one of his rare foreign trips since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The UAE is Russia’s biggest trade partner in the Middle East, according to the Emirati leader.
Rudy Ruitenberg is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. He started his career at Bloomberg News and has experience reporting on technology, commodity markets and politics.
