Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC) has announced that it has made the necessary preparations for launching the 5th editions of the Unmanned Systems Exhibition (UMEX) and the Simulation and Training Exhibition (SimTEX), which will be held at Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on 21-23 February with large-scale international and local participation.

The exhibitions will be accompanied by the 5th edition of the Unmanned Systems Conference, which will be held at the ADNOC Business Centre on 20th February 2022, with participants attending both in person and virtually.

The event, organized by ADNEC in cooperation with the UAE Ministry of Defense, is expected to witness a considerable turnout by exhibitors and visitors, in addition to hosting a unique set of activities on the sideline. These activities include live shows held at Tilal Swaihan, serving as a special platform for showcasing aerial and grounded unmanned systems as well as AI and robotics technologies.

In addition, this year’s event will also debut and host the UMEX platform for start-ups, the Modern Technology Track that will take visitors on a journey showcasing the latest new and advanced technologies featured in the exhibitions and UMEX Talks.

Major General Dr. Mubarak Saeed Ghafan Al Jabri, Head of the UMEX and SimTEX 2022 higher organizing committee, said: “This strategic event, which will feature unmanned and simulation and training systems, is the only one of its kind in the region. It plays an important role in supporting the UAE’s efforts in reinforcing its global leadership in terms of employing innovations to promote the economy, as well as national and regional stability and security.”

“This event is held amidst the current global challenges and circumstances, which shed light on UAE’s ability to organize a strategic event of such magnitude and significance to showcase advanced technology and developments in the defense industries,” he added.

Humaid Matar Al Dhaheri, Group CEO of ADNEC, said: “The upcoming edition of UMEX and SimTEX is exceptional on all levels as it represents an ongoing growth since it was launched in 2015. The event witnessed 25% increase in the area allocated for presentations compared to the previous edition. 134 exhibitors from 26 countries will participate in the exhibitions, and 7 countries of them are participating for the first time, in addition to over 150 international delegations will be participating.”

Al Dhaheri said that the exhibitions will witness exceptional participation by local companies specializing in unmanned systems, simulation, and training, with 37 of these companies participating in this year’s edition, making up 29% of total exhibitors in the event.

“The current edition will be witnessing the participation of 7 countries that will be participating for the first time: Israel, Serbia, Austria, Bulgaria, Malta, Turkey and Bahrain, in addition to two new international pavilions: the Israeli and Ukrainian pavilions,” he said.

The 2022 edition will witness more than 15 live and interactive shows held for the first time in history of live events at Tilal Swaihan.

Al Dhaheri added that the conference accompanying the exhibitions, held under the theme “Unmanned, Unbound: Realizing the Promise of the Unmanned Revolution,” will see large-scale international participation, as it will feature 22 speakers and will host 500 participants, while around 1,500 people are expected to attend the conference virtually.

Mansour AlMulla, CEO and MD of EDGE Group, the strategic partner of the event, said: “We are delighted to support UMEX and SimTEX at ADNEC as we continue to partner with the growing unmanned systems and AI industry. In the era of the digital economy, future technology has become an important area of investment, making a difference in the future progress and prosperity of countries and the UMEX and SimTEX exhibitions provides the perfect platform for this.”