Expo attracts defence majors

Abu Dhabi: President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan inaugurated the eighth edition of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex 2007) yesterday.

The President was accompanied by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and General Shaikh Mohammad Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces and other senior officials.

Idex 2007 has attracted a large number of ministers of defence, military chiefs of staff and commanders of ground, naval and air defence forces from Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

The expo is the first to be held in the new Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. Shaikh Khalifa cut the inaugural ribbon and unveiled a commemorative plaque.

He then received the heads of the 95 official delegations represented before viewing the vehicle mobility demonstration.

Conference

The five-day event was preceded by the Gulf Defence Conference 2007. This year's conference programme was organised by Jane's Information Group and featured 19 renowned international strategists and speakers representing both government and military organisations. The theme of the conference was: "Transforming the Defence of the Gulf States - Strategies, Requirements, Acquisitions".

Live demonstrations are always a popular focal point of Idex. This year the mobility venue features 29 displays from 10 countries with armoured trucks, personnel carriers, mobile missile launchers and more.

The vehicle mobility demonstration shows the off-road capabilities of these vehicles for an audience of defence industry buyers and observers.

Ten countries - all leaders in the manufacture of heavy vehicles are represented. Live firing will focus on counter-terrorism weapons with ranges of up to 400 metres. Weapons used by police, tactical weapons squads and special operations forces will be demonstrated by seven companies.

The Marine and Amphibious Demonstration will once again take place in front of the grandstand, in front of the exhibition.

This year many of these ships are scheduled to visit Abu Dhabi as part of their continuing deployment in the Arabian Gulf.