At Eurosatory 2026, EDGE Group arrives with one of its most expansive showings yet, anchored by uncrewed systems, precision-guided weapons and propulsion technology that speak directly to the saturation and mass challenges now defining modern conflict. Defense Arabia sat down with Khaled Al Zaabi, President of Platforms & Systems at EDGE Group, to discuss how the UAE-based conglomerate is scaling that domestic foundation into a genuine European industrial presence.
Al Zaabi lays out a clear logic: the UAE Armed Forces remain EDGE’s anchor customer and the proving ground for every product the group builds, but that same operational discipline is what now underwrites a footprint spanning more than 100 countries. He walks through what EDGE is bringing to the Eurosatory floor this year, from HUNTER and SHADOW to AL TARIQ and THUNDER, and explains why Paris and Bordeaux were chosen as the twin pillars of EDGE Europe, one for strategic access, the other for industrial depth.
The conversation also covers the architecture behind EDGE’s European expansion, stakes in Milrem Robotics, Anavia and Flaris, the pending CMD acquisition, and partnerships with Fincantieri, Indra, Leonardo and Safran, and closes with Al Zaabi’s view on where EDGE wants to stand among the world’s defence and technology groups five years from now.
How is EDGE balancing serving the UAE Armed Forces as the anchor customer with its push into export markets?
The UAE Armed Forces will always be our anchor customer, and most products we have built are shaped first by their operational requirements. That discipline is what makes everything else possible. It means our solutions are tested against real demands rather than theoretical ones, and that they are designed to perform consistently for whoever ends up using them, wherever in the world that may be. Export growth is not a separate track running alongside our domestic mission. It is the same mission, extended outward. The investment we put into product development, and the operational readiness we maintain for our home customer, are exactly what makes our equipment competitive when we take it abroad. Since 2019 we have developed over 250 products. Around 80% of that portfolio is designed and manufactured here in the UAE. That base now supports a footprint in more than 100 countries across Latin America, Africa, the GCC, India, Southeast Asia and Europe. Every one of those relationships ultimately traces back to the same operational rigour our home customer demands of us, and that is also what is driving the UAE’s ambition to become a leading global exporter of advanced defence technology.
What is EDGE bringing to Eurosatory this year, and why is this the right platform for those products?
Our presence at Eurosatory this year is weighted heavily toward three areas where we are seeing the sharpest rise in demand: uncrewed systems, precision-guided weapons, and propulsion. On the uncrewed side we have HT-100, HUNTER, SHADOW and JERNAS on display, alongside our SKYSHIELD, SHADOW 3 and SKYNIGHT counter-drone and air defence systems. Saturation, whether by mass or by cheap, attritable platforms, is the problem every air force in the world is now wrestling with, and that is exactly where these systems are built to perform. On precision weapons, AL TARIQ, RASH and THUNDER reflect a straightforward truth: customers want guided effects rather than volume fire, and they want them from a supplier who can deliver at the pace modern conflict demands. We are also bringing a selection of our propulsion systems, which sit underneath almost everything else we make. Range, endurance and reliability all start there, and it is an area we have deliberately built up in-house rather than bought in from elsewhere. Alongside that, visitors will see our electro-optic and radar families, MIRSAD, KASHIF and PHANTOMHAWK, our KATIM cybersecurity systems, and our work in sovereign space capability, so the full breadth of the group is represented even as the spotlight falls on drones, munitions and propulsion this year. Eurosatory brings the European defence community together in one place, at a moment when the requirements driving our customers, mass, speed and sovereignty, are the same ones shaping the rest of the continent. It is the right room for this conversation.
You have chosen Paris for the headquarters and Bordeaux for engineering and manufacturing. Why France, and why these two cities specifically?
France was the natural choice before it was the obvious one. The UAE and France have built a genuine partnership over decades, in defence and well beyond it, founded on trust rather than transaction. That kind of relationship cannot be manufactured quickly. France also happens to sit among the most advanced defence and aerospace nations anywhere in the world, with an industrial base, a research culture and a manufacturing tradition that very few countries can match. Setting up here means working alongside some of the best engineering talent in Europe. Paris gives us proximity to government, to industry, and to the institutions that shape European defence policy. It puts EDGE in the room for the conversations that matter, which is exactly where a serious new entrant needs to be. Bordeaux brings something different but equally important: deep engineering expertise, an established aerospace supply chain on its doorstep, and access to a talent pool that has been quietly building world-class capability for years. It is a region that knows how to manufacture at scale and to a high standard, and that combination is hard to find anywhere else. Together, Paris and Bordeaux give us strategic access on one side and industrial depth on the other. France is where we are starting, not where we intend to stop. Our ambition for EDGE Europe is continental in scope, and France gives us the foundation to build that out properly.
Your European base already includes stakes in Milrem Robotics, Anavia and Flaris, the planned CMD acquisition, and partnerships with Fincantieri, Indra, Leonardo and Safran. How does this fit together, and where are the gaps you still need to fill?
None of these moves were made in isolation. Each one was chosen because it closes a specific gap in our ability to operate across air, land, sea, space and cyber, rather than simply adding scale for its own sake. Our majority shareholding in Milrem Robotics strengthens our position in autonomous ground systems. Anavia brings rotary-wing unmanned capability. Flaris adds aviation technology we did not previously have in-house. The planned CMD acquisition, together with our agreements to establish joint ventures with EM&E, Indra, Fincantieri, Leonardo, and Safran, extends that further still. These strategic partnerships give us access to systems, integration expertise and markets that would take much longer to reach on our own, and just as importantly, they give our partners access to a manufacturing base and an export reach that complements theirs. As we grow in Europe, building genuine partnerships across the continent matters as much as any single acquisition. It is how we diversify our supply chain, expand our manufacturing footprint, and broaden what we can offer customers, rather than depending on any one country or any one production line. There is a wider point here too. What we are building in Europe is not simply another defence supplier setting up shop. It is a different model: sovereign-minded, partnership-led, and built for speed. Europe needs that model over the next several years, as demand for credible, fast-moving capability continues to outpace what the traditional supply base can deliver alone.
Where do you want EDGE to rank among global defence companies in five years, and what has to happen to get there?
We want EDGE recognised among the world’s leading defence and technology groups, and recognised for the right reasons: innovation, speed and operational relevance, not simply size. Getting there means continuing to invest in research and development, getting products from the drawing board to the field faster, and deepening the international partnerships we have spent the last several years building. It also means never losing sight of the customer. The operators who use our equipment are the ones who tell us, fastest and most honestly, whether we are getting it right. The industry is being reshaped by autonomy and artificial intelligence, and we see that disruption as an opportunity rather than a threat. EDGE was built to move quickly and to challenge how things have always been done. If we keep executing with that same discipline, I believe we will be one of the most influential defence technology companies in the world, and a company the UAE can continue to point to with real pride.
A great interview illuminating high level strategic thinking of Edge. Best wishes !!