Made-in-UAE radar set to be tested in July

Abu Dhabi: The UAE's defence manufacturing companies are working on exciting projects including a radar, which will be tested in July this year, a top official said on Sunday at the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference.
Abu Dhabi based defence manufacturers, who entered into the new industry some eight years ago with the production of heavy military vehicles, are now involved in research and development and manufacturing of sophisticated weapons at par with the developed nations.
They are now manufacturing predator drones, which are almost comparable with any other drones, naval war ships, missile boats and other military hardware.
An Abu Dhabi-based company Emirates Technology Innovation Centre said that it has locally conceived and developed a radar system that can detect hostile aircraft and missiles and planning a test in July.
The company is working on several other projects including installing an antenna on a drone to jam electronic signals in a particular area. "This is our innovation, and idea," the official said.
The company is already in an advance stage of developing a drone which can monitor moving vehicles in an area as large as four square kilometres.
Emirates Advance Research and Technology Holding in collaboration with Khalifa University is engaged in this project. The company will carry out research and development in electro-optics, laser seeking platforms, un-manned vehicles and robotics next year.
Another Abu Dhabi-based company Adcom is manufacturing five different types of drones and its chairman Dr Ali Al Dheheri said a good number of its invented UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) are in the service.
Al Dheheri said Yabhon-United 40 is a medium altitude long endurance UAV, designed and manufactured by Adcom Systems for strategic missions including near real time combat assessment; battle damage assessment; intelligence preparation of the battlefield; special operations, reconnaissance operations and humanitaritian missions and border surveillance and communication relay.
Brigadier General Rashid Mohammed Al Shamsi, Chairman of Higher Organising Committee of the Umex later said that the UAE companies are quite aggressively taking part in the show as local defence industry is growing stronger.
- haseeb@khleejtimes.com