A very good evening to our ADU podcast listeners. This is Chaitali Bag Chief of Bureau with Aviation & Defence Universe reporting live from Abu Dhabi where the 30th edition of IDEX NAVDEX is being held. Today by the end of day one of the exhibition Tawazun Council – the independent government entity that works closely with the Ministry of Defense and security agencies to maximize value through acquisition systems – announced signing of 11 deals with local and international companies on day one of the International Defence Exhibition (IDEX) and the Naval Defence Exhibition (NAVDEX) 2023, cumulatively worth AED 4.5 billion.
The two exhibitions that commenced in Abu Dhabi today, and will continue until Friday 24 February.
Zayed Saeed Al Meraikhi, the official Spokesman of Tawazun Council, said the number of contracts signed by Tawazun Council on behalf of the Ministry of Defence with local companies has reached six contracts, totaling AED 2.3 billion, while the number of contracts signed with international companies has reached five contracts, totaling AED 2.2 billion.
Tawazun Council signed a contract worth AED 2.14 billion with Halcon, a subsidiary of Edge Group, to procure Thunder P3 system and an AED 78 million contract with Maplin Marine Systems & Services to provide vessels’ technical support services.
Also signed were an AED 45 million contract with Mohamed Abdulrahman Al-Bahar LLC to provide technical support services on caterpillar vehicles, a contract worth AED 26 million with Atlas Telecom to procure SR Hawk radars and portable radars and a contract with Romco International to procure mine clearance system for AED 4 million.
The sixth local contract was signed with Al Hamra Trades to procure and to provide maintenance services on inspection devices and explosives detectors. The contract value is AED 8 million.
The international contracts signed by Tawazun Council include an AED 1.5 billion contract with the Indonesian company PT Pal for the procurement of multi-mission vessel. Another contract worth AED 421 million was signed with Thales LAS of France for the procurement of GM403 radars.
The deals signed on Day 1 of the exhibition included an AED 202 million contract with the US company Allant Techsystems to procure ammunition, an AED 92 million contract with French company MBDA to provide missiles’ technical support services and an AED 3 million contract with Germany’s Rhode & Schwartz to provide communication systems’ technical support.
“Thanks to our leadership’s vision, the announcement made by Tawazun Council, in partnership with the Ministry of Defense, represents a continuation of IDEX past successes,” Al Jaberi said.
Saeed Al Mansoori, CEO of Capital Events, a subsidiary of ADNEC Group, said this edition of IDEX and NAVDEX 2023 is the biggest since the launch of the event three decades ago.
And now with the coming days of the exhibition it is expected to have more deals to be signed both local and international
