Search results

The new AD Naval joint venture will focus on developing small and mid-sized vessels in Abu Dhabi, in a similar arrangement to Edge’s existing deal with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri.

Bahrain’s Al-Munther satellite was carried by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from California on 15 March, also carrying the UAE’s Etihad-SAT. The authorities in Manama then announced the creation of a Bahrain Space Agency, to sit under the Supreme Defence Council headed by national security advisor Sheikh Nasser Bin Hamad Al-Khalifa.

Abeer Anwar Al-Awadhi becomes the second leader of Kuwait’s cybersecurity body, taking over from Major General Mohammed Bouarki.

A series of memoranda and other agreements were announced during President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan’s brief state visit to Rome, in MBZ’s second trip to Europe in a matter of weeks.

An International Institute for Strategic Studies report points to a new missile base being developed near Al-Nabhaniyah, north-west of Riyadh, along with construction work at other Royal Saudi Strategic Missile Force sites. China remains a key partner in developing the Saudi missile programme, as it has been over the past four decades.

Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko visited Doha in late February to meet his counterpart Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, in the latest sign that Gulf leaders have no interest in following western countries’ efforts to isolate the autocratic regime in Minsk over its support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A new record was set for the value of defence deals signed by the UAE authorities at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference’s latest edition, with local groups Edge and Calidus securing most of the orders

Kuwaiti soldiers Major Sergeant Ahmed Farhan Harat and Sergeant Musaad Dhahi Saleh were killed during the Desert Observer 4 live shooting exercise conducted alongside US forces.

The initial days of Donald Trump’s second stint in the White House seemed to pick up where his first term left off, with big investments promises by Gulf states to secure the president’s favour. However, deal-making has been quickly overtaken by more strategic concerns and grandiose political posturing, with suggestions the US could force Gaza’s population to move to Jordan, Egypt or even Saudi Arabia, while Trump has renewed his ‘maximum pressure’ campaign on Iran, hinting darkly that Washington could support Israel ‘bombing the hell out of them’.

Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani was the first head of state to visit post-Assad Damascus, when the Qatari leader flew into the Syrian capital on 30 January, after which President Ahmed Al-Sharaa chose Riyadh for his first overseas trip. Meanwhile Iranian military commanders have emerged from licking their wounds after the Assad regime’s defeat to claim they are now rebuilding resistance cells in their former client state.

The visit by four vessels from the IRGC Navy and the regular Iranian Navy to a port in Sharjah in early February was the first of its kind and is part of a planned exchange of naval visits. It is part of Iran’s efforts to bolster its diplomatic relations with its neighbours and comes as a time when it is also strengthening its domestic defences against potential attacks.

Thamer Al-Muhid takes over as Saudi Arabian Military Industries Company’s third permanent chief executive, after a five-month search.

The inauguration of the Rafale F4 from Dassault Aviation follows a $17bn defence deal struck in 2021 between the UAE and France.

Recent bilateral talks on border security, water resources and the 5m Afghans living in Iran point to a more positive atmosphere between the neighbours – prompting speculation that Tehran could soon recognise the Taliban government. It comes at a time when other Gulf states have been recalibrating their relations with the isolated regime.

Emir Sheikh Tamim watched Sheikha Mariam Bint Mishaal graduate from Al-Zaeem Mohammed Bin Abdullah Al-Attiyah Air College – one of four graduation ceremonies at state security and military colleges the Qatari ruler attended from 20-23 January.