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UAE Announces Dh12b Defence Deal
ABU DHABI - The UAE on Tuesday announced defence contracts worth more than Dh12 billion, including the purchase of 16 military transportation aircraft from US aviation companies Lockheed Martin and Boeing.
Under the transporter deal, Lockheed Martin will supply 12 C-130J Super Hercules aircrafts while Boeing will sell four C-17 jets. The UAE Armed Forces have assigned Waha Capital, the Abu Dhabi-based investments holding company, to arrange and manage financing for the combined purchases, which together totalled Dh 11 billion.
Staff Major General Obaid Al Ketbi said the day’s deals included one with a local company, Global Aerospace Logistics, to provide one aircraft of the type KING AIR 350 along with the technical support for it. This contract is valued at Dh35.2 million. Al Ketbi announced the orders at a news conference at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX).
Another deal was signed with Abu Dhabi Aviation to operate seven type AW 139 search and rescue helicopters from Agusta Westland. The deal is worth Dh133.2 million. The German company Rheinmetall Defence Electronics won a Dh459 million contract to set up a combat training centre, part of the UAE Armed Forces’ plan to upgrade its training system and combat capability, Al Ketbi said.
The UAE Armed Forces also signed contracts worth Dh433 million with the local firm Advanced Integrated Systems for machines and tools for an advanced radar system. The Special Operations Command wing of the UAE Armed Forces outsourced a training school to a different local firm, Spectre Training and Evaluation, in business valued at Dh316 million.
Joint Venture
In a separate development, Abu Dhabi-based Baynuna Aviation Technology has formed a joint venture with the French firm Dassault Aviation, manufacturer of Mirage fighter jets and civilian aircraft. The venture, Dasbat Aviation LLC, will develop and build fighters, civilian aircraft and unmanned aviation vehicles, said General Khalid Al Bu-Ainnain, who is chairman of both Baynuna and the new venture.
Dasbat Aviation will also provide support to the Mirage 2000-9 fighters of the UAE armed forces. The UAE currently has about 60 of these jets. In addition, Dasbat Aviation will develop products and services in order to participate in the planned UAE Aeronautic Flight Test Centre in Abu Dhabi, Al Bu-Ainnain said.
Dasbat will supply the UAE Air Force with spare parts, repairs, training and technical assistance, he said, adding that Dasbat should help make Abu Dhabi “a leading aviation centre of excellence.” Officials of Baynuna and Dassault declined to say how much money each was investing in their joint venture, though Eric Trappier, Executive Vice-president of Dassault Aviation, said it would be “a very, very large amount.’’
Trappier added that the venture would reinforce Dassault’s effort to to build a strategic partnership with the UAE aviation industry.
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