The leading Turkish missile developer Roketsan signed an agreement with EDGE Group, the largest defense and aerospace company group in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to explore potential partnerships in the smart weapons domain.
Under the agreement, signed at the Dubai Airshow 2023, the two companies will work together to explore opportunities in the joint development of new and advanced smart weapon technologies.
A biennial aerospace pageant, Dubai Airshow was held in the city of Dubai and saw a number of agreements made, including a major $52 billion order for 95 Boeing planes by Emirates Airlines and an order from the Turkish-German SunExpress for up to 90 Boeing 737 MAX jets.
The signing ceremony took place with the participation of Cenk Önen, deputy general manager of Advanced Technologies and Systems at Roketsan, Mustafa Odabaş, director of Market Development and Promotion at Roketsan and officials from EDGE Group.
Hamad Al Marar, president of EDGE Group’s Missiles & Weapons cluster in a separate press release, said: "We are proud to be working with Roketsan and explore mutually beneficial opportunities to develop advanced technologies. In addition, we will also work closely to identify any opportunities to enhance existing solutions. As our agreement with Roketsan matures, we look forward to accelerating our product portfolios through a combined, focused effort, and furthering our relationship as leading developers and manufacturers of smart weapon solutions."
Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA) Odabaş mentioned that approximately two months ago, the SAHA-EDGE Defense Industry Summit was held in Ankara, during which EDGE signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with about 25 defense industry companies.
He emphasized that the agreement signed recently is a more detailed agreement aimed at further cooperation. "We have identified the issues related to the areas where we can collaborate. From now on, we will begin working on collaborations with EDGE in the fields of new and advanced technology weapons systems and munitions."
Highlighting the sale of Turkish unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to the UAE, Odabaş further said, "Roketsan munitions are used on these UAVs. Users from the UAE Air Force came to see MAM-C, MAM-L and MAM-T. We provided detailed information about our munitions to end-users, receiving an intense interest in Dubai."
Odabaş also mentioned that many Roketsan-produced munitions, including ÇAKIR, SUNGUR and CIRIT, attracted considerable attention at the fair. He added that, in addition to end-users, they also held meetings with leading defense industry organizations in the UAE.