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UAE's first air defence missile system unveiled at IDEX 2021

Abu Dhabi - The achievement is in line with UAE’s aim to establish sovereign defence capabilities: Halcon CEO.

Published: Tue 23 Feb 2021, 9:26 PM

SkyKnight, the UAE’s first air defence missile developed by Halcon – part of the Edge Group – was unveiled at IDEX in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

SkyKnight, designed and manufactured locally, is a missile defence system used to detect, and/or destroy incoming rocket, artillery and mortar.

Halcon CEO Saeed Al Mansoori noted the achievement is in line with the UAE’s aim to establish sovereign defence capabilities.

“Edge Group has been developing its own short-range air defence system, as has Germany-based Rheinmetall AG, which was actively seeking a missile system to form part of its Skynex air defence system. The companies decided to jointly offer a solution, with Halcon providing SkyKnight, the missile system to the highly regarded Oerlikon Skynex Air Defence System,” Al Mansoori told Khaleej Times.

“We remain open to mutually beneficial arrangements with vetted suppliers globally, and we are pleased to cooperate with Rheinmetall, a leading player in the defence industry, in this instance.”

Al Mansoori pointed out that talented Emirati minds were part of the project.

“SkyKnight has been in development by Halcon for some time, and we are proud to see our expertise attracting the attention of internationally established companies such as Rheinmetall, becoming keen to partner with us.”

Al Mansoori said that amid the pandemic a lot of hard work went into coordinating the project.

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“Through the support of Edge Group executive management, the team at Halcon was able to continue in its efforts to develop this pioneering product, which was purposely designed to counter the full spectrum of modern threats, providing early warning signals and precise surface-to-air intercept capabilities targeting of rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) rockets, artillery, mortar, and other fixed-wing aircraft at a range of up to 10Km,” Al Mansoori added.

Faisal Al Bannai, Edge Group CEO and managing director, noted the collaboration with Rheinmetall is a message to other players on potential for joint efforts in the future.

“SkyKnight is the UAE’s first, but will not be the last air defence missile developed by Halcon. We are pleased to team up with Rheinmetall, a leading player in the defence industry, for us to jointly offer the world’s most advanced and comprehensive C-RAM solution leveraging our SkyKnight missile and Rheinmetall’s Skynex solution,” Al Bannai added.

There are more product launches in pipeline on the last two days of the exhibition.



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