EDGE, TKMS explore joint underwater surveillance and protection systems

MoU will assess integrated platforms and sensors for underwater surveillance

Last updated:
2 MIN READ
Supplied
Supplied

Dubai: EDGE Group and German shipbuilding and defence company TKMS have agreed to explore the joint development of underwater surveillance and protection capabilities as the UAE and Germany deepen cooperation in defence and security.

Get updated faster and for FREE: Download the Gulf News app now - simply click here.

The memorandum of understanding was signed in Munich during the UAE state visit to Germany and forms part of a broader initiative agreed by the two governments to strengthen cooperation in the sector.

Under the agreement, the companies will assess an integrated approach that brings together multiple platforms and sensor systems to build a more complete picture of activity underwater.

The MoU was signed by Miguel Ángel López Borrego, Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of TKMS, and Omar Al Zaabi, President, Commercial at EDGE.

Focus on underwater security

The proposed collaboration will examine how TKMS platform capabilities and EDGE systems expertise can be combined to support surveillance and protection in the maritime domain.

The companies said integrating several platforms and sensor systems could help establish a broader situational picture and support responses to a range of maritime threats.

“The security of the maritime domain is fundamental to the UAE's national and economic resilience, and the demands placed on it are growing," said Hamad Al Marar, Managing Director and CEO of EDGE. "EDGE is working to build the sovereign capability to meet them, working with partners such as TKMS whose expertise strengthens what we deliver.”

UAE-Germany cooperation expands

TKMS said the agreement builds on its existing relationship with the UAE and the wider defence and security initiative agreed by both governments.

The agreement comes amid increased demand for naval capabilities linked to maritime security and the protection of commercial shipping routes.

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

Sign up for the Daily Briefing

Get the latest news and updates straight to your inbox