JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) said on Thursday it would jointly develop an advanced drone defense system with the United Arab Emirates’ state-owned arms manufacturer EDGE.
Israel and the UAE formalized relations last year, which were brought closer by commercial interests and concerns about Iran.
The state-owned IAI, a major Israeli defense firm, said in a statement that the companies would develop a Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System “adapted for the UAE market, with wider benefits for the MENA region and beyond”.
Yemen’s Houthi movement with Iran, which recently launched cross-border missile and drone strikes on Saudi Arabia, has in the past threatened to launch attacks on the UAE.
The UAE was Riyadh’s main partner in the Saudi – led military coalition that intervened against the group in Yemen in March 2015, but a senior Emirati official said in February that he had ended his military involvement in Yemen last October.
The war was in a military stalemate for years and in 2019 the UAE scaled down its presence in Yemen after attacks that year on tankers in the Gulf waters, also off the shores.
The UAE already has an advanced interception system against the rockets, the US High Heights Terminal (THAAD).
EDGE, with the task of supplying advanced weapons to the UAE army, is focused on the development of drones, unmanned vehicles, smart weapons and electronic warfare equipment rather than conventional weapons.
(Written by Dan Williams and Ghaida Ghantous; Edited by Alexander Smith and Jan Harvey)