The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE’s) Edge Group revealed the location of its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) testing facility on 4 August, when it released a video showing demonstrations it put on for a Brazilian naval delegation.
The video said the Brazilians were taken to the company’s ‘testing range’ and showed them watching the feed from an ADASI QX-2 quadcopter that included co-ordinates for a location at the airport on Abu al-Abyad island, about 60 km southwest of Abu Dhabi city.
An ADASI Garmoosha unmanned helicopter was also seen flying. The company had previously told Janes that the Garmoosha, which is similar to the Schiebel Camcopter S-100 used by the UAE Armed Forces, is in full-rate production for an undisclosed customer.
The Brazilians were also given a demonstration by Edge’s electronic warfare subsidiary, Sig4l, which had deployed antennas on top of one of the airport’s buildings, and watched the Armed Robotic Vehicle (ARV) version of the Nimr Ajban 4×4 that was remotely driven around the aircraft parking apron.
The use of Abu al-Abyad airport for the demonstration enabled it to be identified as the airport seen in a video shown on Edge’s stand during the IDEX defence show held in Abu Dhabi in February 2023. This featured a prototype of the Reach-S unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) taking off from the runway and dropping what appeared to be a member of the company’s Desert Sting series of small guided bombs.
The most recently available satellite imagery of the airport from 9 July 2022 showed no indication Edge was using it at that time and a Skyguard anti-aircraft gun system was still deployed near the northwest end of the runway.
The Brazilian naval delegation watch screens showing satellite imagery of Abu al-Abyad island during the Sig4l demonstration
The high-ranking delegation from the Brazilian Marine Corps visited headquarters and manufacturing and testing facilities in Abu Dhabi. During the four-day visit, EDGE briefed the delegation on its latest developments and conducted several live product demonstrations showcasing its extensive capabilities across air, land, sea, and cyber domains, with a particular focus on autonomous systems, counter-drone technologies, electronic warfare, cybersecurity, secure communications, missiles, naval vessels, and armoured vehicles.
Led by Admiral Rogerio Ramos Lage, Marine Corps Material Commander, the delegation also included Commander Aderlan Ricardo Lima Rodriques, Chief of Electronic Warfare and Cybersecurity Material Commander, and Lieutenant Commander Augusto Van den Eeden Claas, Command and Control Battalion Operations Officer.
Mansour AlMulla, Managing Director & CEO, EDGE, said:
“Hosting the Brazilian Marine Corps at EDGE was a great opportunity for us to showcase our advanced technology solutions and for the delegation to witness firsthand the quality and performance of some of our products and solutions. There is a great potential for us to work together on knowledge exchange, R&D cooperation, and the co-development of advanced defence systems, as recently demonstrated through our partnership agreement to develop an anti-ship missile with the Brazilian Navy. This is yet another important milestone in our long-term partnership.”
EDGE recently announced the strategic partnership agreement with the Brazilian Navy to co-invest in long-range anti-ship missile development, as well as providing advanced solutions, such as anti-jamming technology, which is developed by EDGE in the UAE.
Admiral Rogerio Ramos Lage, Brazilian Marine Corps Material Commander, said:
“The live demonstrations of EDGE’s wide range of technologies and solutions show many areas for future collaboration, which will strengthen the partnership between the Brazilian Navy and EDGE. The visit underscores our commitment to exploring new opportunities for collaboration of mutual benefit, and enhancing our defence capabilities across multiple domains.”
Photo: His Excellency Faisal al Bannai, Chairman of Edge Group and Admiral Rogerio Ramos Lage, Brazilian Marine Corps Material Commander
Sources: Press Release; Janes