World's top defence firms have Idex in their sights

Abu Dhabi: The eighth edition of the International Defence Exhibition, Idex 2007, opens today in the capital and is expected to play host to a wide array of major deals.

The international gathering of weapons producers represents one of the major platforms for negotiating new contracts, especially in the Middle East.

"The military spending of the GCC countries exceeded $40 billion in 2005, with Saudi Arabia accounting for $25 billion, and the UAE for $2.6 billion," said Mohammad Al Nabhani, Idex project manager.

Vying for contracts at Idex are 862 exhibitors from 50 countries, in addition to 95 official delegations and several heads of state including Jordan, Qatar and possibly Syria.

"There is no major arms producer that I know of who can afford to miss this event, as all the major players are participating as usual this year," said John Tolhurst, chairman of Reed's Aerospace and Defence board.

The five-day event is attended by a substantial number of ministers of defence, army chiefs of staff, and commanders of air defence and ground forces, where 33 national pavilions have been set up.

Official invitations were extended by the General Headquarters of the UAE armed forces.

General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, told WAM that the Idex exhibition has proved to be an invaluable forum for defence and security experts to converge and exchange views and expertise on a number of issues. The hot-button issues, he said, are terrorism, organised crime, protection of national borders from terrorists, illegal immigration, human trafficking and possession of weapons of mass destruction.

"The exhibition provides a forum to share all these issues," he said.

The highlights of this year's event will be ant-terrorist arms with ranges of up to 400 metres, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), as well as innovations such as nano-technology.

The first phase of these innovations will focus on reducing fighting loads and protection of soldiers.

Live demonstrations will also take place, with 29 displays scheduled, including two unmanned vehicle demonstrations.

Now that the first phase of the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) is completed, Idex will be the first international event to be held in the new venues.