The UAE Military Armed Forces, have achieved a significant growth in its fighting defensive and offensive skills and capabilities, this has been achieved through continuous efforts and work for over two decades, being located in a Mediterranean troubled region, and with the regional powerful parties that seek to impose their power in a direct way or through other agents.
After the cruel Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in the early 90s, there was a need to develop robust training approaches in the military colleges and schools, to be able to develop the leaders on the military thinking, strategic planning, while arming the military forces with the advanced weapons.
In addition to giving priority to the defense side, the UAE owns critical offensive skills against the potential enemies, the state succeeded to avoid the chaos and instability that spread across the region after the so called Arab Spring; with the large number of armed militias and the regional players who deployed their armies and mercenaries causing continuous instability and fragility in the many countries, which gave a lesson to UAE.
The wisdom of the United Arab Emirates leaders contributed to building a strategic military thinking similar to its economic successful model which achieved a high-level of well-being and prosperity to its people, and hence it becomes necessary to protect its achievements through building a strong military force including purchasing developed military contracts, for instance the latest deal of buying the world most advanced military aircraft F 35, and building strong military manufacturing companies.
With all the aforementioned achievements, the UAE has been ranked in the list of the top 25 weapon producers in 2019, with its manufacturing arm “Edge”, which aim to localize the advanced technologies, particularly those associated to defense industries. The company employs around 12 thousand employees with high qualifications and technical expertise in the defense industries. It has five key sectors including: platforms and systems, missiles and weapons, cyber defense, warfare and electronic intelligence and mission support.
Since its inception last year, the company’s sales have reached about US 5 billion. Edge is seeking to adopt state-of-the-art technologies including the autonomous capabilities, physical and cyber systems, internet of things, advanced payment systems, robotics and smart materials, with a focus on artificial intelligence across its various products and services.
All the fruitful results which we see today, is just a beginning to serious work that shapes a prosperous future, and protects the region’s achievements from the abusers. It is also in line with the government’s foreign policy which aims to protect its people, and building a national state to achieve prosperity and well-being of its citizens and eradicate poverty; this made the UAE to take a part in many of the organized operations under the United Nations, at the Arab and gulf levels, a is considered a key partner in the endeavors that aim to build an integrated Gulf Missile Shield to secure its territories and regions against the ballistic missiles that we saw in the previous years from countries that have been working for decades to export and spread their destructive ideologies.
