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.
SuperJet International’s first customer services operators’ conference has been deemed a success as it took the company another step towards creating an efficient and fair SJI Customer Relationship Policy.
SJI aimed the event at improving its communication with customers, suppliers and partners in view of the approaching crucial phase of entry into service (EIS) for the Sukhoi Superjet 100 (SSJ100).
SJI chief executive officer, Alessandro Franzoni, opened the conference, giving a general overview of SuperJet International, its achievements and activities, plus an update on the SSJ100 programme.
“This conference highlighted the importance of a strong coordination among SJI, customers, suppliers and partners. Full and complete evidence was also provided on the progress achieved in setting up all infrastructures and partnership in Russia in order to make the EIS a smoother experience for our initial customers, including status of SJI’s Russian branch and training centre,” said Franzoni.
The three days conference covered topics such as SJI customer services activities progress, after-sales services market analysis for regional jets, EIS support and start up team, integrated life-cycle solutions, spares and logistics, awarded certifications, training and flight operations services, service engineering, SSJ100 maintenance support, supplier support to EIS, and virtual aircraft platforms as a base for engineering support and training applications.
During the session, Giovanni Simonetti, SVP customer services with SuperJet International, chaired an “After Sales Support Strategy” panel on how to build up an effective customer services organisation. “We were committed to have this conference allowing the future SSJ100 operators and all our other potential customers to receive an update about the after-sales support activities and let them be informed of what we’re implementing to support the upcoming aircraft EIS,” explained Simonetti. “I am very confident that the SSJ100 will achieve all the planned EIS milestones and that the win–win relationship we are building with customers, based mainly on our Super-Care Plan concept, is the key factor of our reliable services policy.”
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.