How UAE defence giant EDGE Group plans to double its exports
The UAE defence conglomerate has put an aggressive strategy in place to increase its share of exports while navigating the growing gap between East and West.
The Andalusian Foundation for Aerospace Development (FADA) has kicked off a new project to apply UAS technologies to agricultural and farm monitoring applications.
The MOCHUELO project, which will be run from the ATLAS Flight Test Center in Andalusia, Spain, will aim to develop a system that can detect intrusions on agricultural farms at night using remotely controlled UAS and infrared payloads applying thermograpy technology.
The initiative began at the beginning of 2016 and will run through to mid-year.
The first application will be the olive farm industry in Andalusia – where theft is a significant issue - with a view to rolling out the solution across wider agricultural industry.
Joaquín Rodríguez Grau, general director of FADA, said that the objective is to ‘demonstrate that it is possible for an aerial fixed-wing platform to patrol agroforest terrain at night and that it can detect human presence when they should be none’.
The ATLAS Center runway will be extended for the project. The centre has segregated airspace certified for civil use by the Spanish Aviation Security Agency (AESA).
The UAE defence conglomerate has put an aggressive strategy in place to increase its share of exports while navigating the growing gap between East and West.
The US Congress has raised concerns about how inflation rates and cuts in main acquisition programmes could affect the US military.
Washington’s ageing inventory and the pace Moscow and Beijing have been modernising their capabilities put in check the US Nuclear deterrence.
The Pentagon has been operating under temporary funding since October 2023, which has impacted its main acquisition and development programmes, increasing the capability gap between the US and China.
In 2023, defence spending increased by an unprecedented 11% across European NATO countries and Canada. Since 2014, the group has spent an additional US$600 billion on defence.
The DoD requested nearly US$850 billion to fund operations over the next fiscal year. Despite the amount being 1% higher than the FY2024 budget request, it has not covered the 3% inflation rate, which could impact the DoD’s main programmes in the medium and long term.