Right to left- Yehuda Lahav EVP Marketing IAI, Boaz Levy, President and CEO of IAI, HE Faisal Al Bannai CEO and Managing Director, EDGE Omar AL Zaabi, Senior VP Head of program Acquisition, Group
- Boaz Levy, President and CEO of IAI, and Omar Al Zaabi, Senior Vice President Head of Program Acquisition at EDGE, signed the agreement during a ceremony at the 2021 Dubai Airshow.
EDGE, the region’s leading technology company for defence and beyond and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Israel’s primary defense and aerospace company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a maintenance center, for a selection of IAI’s systems, in the UAE. In addition to maintenance, the centre will advance local marketing of these systems. The agreement covers electro-optics advanced systems including IAI’s POP family (Plug-in Optronic Payload) systems, Mini-POP and MOSP (Multi-Sensors Optronic Stabilized Payload) surveillance payloads for land, naval and air applications.
IAI’s POP is a Plug-in Optronic Payload electro-optical sensor system, equipped with a powerful laser designator and eye-safe range finder. The MiniPOP is a dual-axis that includes a continuous zoom color day camera and a thermal imaging camera. A laser pointer, eye-safe laser rangefinder, and automatic tracker. The MOSP is a highly stabilized long-range reconnaissance and targeting multi-sensor family of payloads for Airborne and maritime applications.
Speaking at the ceremony, Al Zaabi said: “This agreement with a leading global industry player such as IAI will create many opportunities for the expansion of EO/IR services here in the UAE and further afield. By combining IAI’s expertise in the field and our own experience in providing advanced solutions locally, we can expedite complex maintenance processes for the benefit of our customers, while expanding the scope of collaboration on future opportunities.”
Boaz Levy, President and CEO of IAI added: “Localization and cooperation are central and critical to our UAE strategy’s success. The partnership with EDGE Group will allow us to provide full advanced and world-class solutions for the final customers, including maintenance facilities and capabilities. We will work together to provide state of the art EO/IR systems and optimize Turn-Around-Time to better serve local end-users and provide the highest value; resulting in greater availability and performances of mission critical system”
Both companies will also form a standing joint committee to identify opportunities in this field within the UAE, and to expand future cooperation in other countries.
