Abu Dhabi defence show highlights drive towards domestic production

Around Dh31bn ($8.5bn) worth of deals were announced over the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex)’s first three days. The major annual show and parallel Naval Defence and Maritime Security Exhibition (Navdex) were held in Abu Dhabi on 17-21 February. Local companies picked up 56 of the 85 deals announced on the first three days of the show, although they tended to be smaller than the contracts signed by international firms – hinting at the relatively limited sophistication of locally-produced equipment.