European defense giant MBDA has expansion plans and intends to open its first subsidiary outside Europe new facilities in the United Arab Emirates, where MBDA aims to develop both missiles and loitering munitions.
The details were revealed by Patrice Hajjar, MBDA's Vice President for the Middle East, as cited by Breaking Defense.
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According to preliminary plans, the subsidiary is to be established next year, and the company emphasizes that it will help them substantially expand their presence in the region by relying on the UAE's advanced industrial base.
Among other things, this involves cooperation with the local defense giant EDGE Group, as well as Calidus MBDA plans to integrate its weapons onto platforms produced by these companies.
As part of its collaboration with the UAE, MBDA is also working with the French ASB Group to set up production of their components in the Emirates specifically thermal batteries, which are one of the key elements in missile systems.
Overall, this is not MBDA's first cooperation with the UAE more than two years ago, in the summer of 2023, the company announced the opening of a Missile Engineering Center in the country, which also became MBDA's first facility of its kind outside Europe.
By the way, when speaking of loitering munitions production, it’s worth noting that the company has prior experience developing the Hunter family of loitering munitions we previously explained how long it would take to create an analogue of russias Lancet without financial constraints.
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