Al Defaiya published an exclusive interview with H.E. Hamad Al Marar, Managing Director & CEO of EDGE Group in its February issue coinciding with IDEX-NAVDEX 2025:
Al Defaiya: EDGE Group recently marked five years of innovation, growth, and global presence. What factors came into play to achieve this remarkable achievement since the Group’s launch in November 2019?
Al Marar: EDGE’s remarkable success over the past five years has been driven by a clear mission: to develop sovereign capabilities for global export, and position the UAE as a hub for future industries and advanced defence technologies.
Our approach has focused on building a diversified, multi-domain portfolio of solutions that modernise armed forces from end to end—across air, land, sea, and cyberspace. From naval vessels to autonomous systems, smart weapons, electronic warfare (EW), and counter-drone technologies, we provide fully integrated solutions tailored to today’s evolving operational requirements.
Our dedication to innovation and rapid product development has propelled EDGE into a leadership position in global defence and advanced technology. In just five years, our portfolio has grown by an unprecedented 550% to 201 products and solutions, and our commercial footprint now spans 91 countries across five continents. These achievements highlight the strength of our strategic vision and operational execution.
Al Defaiya: Local and international orders: What countries, solutions, and markets do they mainly cover? What is the value of these orders?
Al Marar: EDGE’s ability to secure substantial international orders reflects the trust global markets place in our cutting-edge solutions. Since 2019, we have recorded $2.1 billion in international orders, supported by a robust order backlog valued at $12.8 billion. These milestones have contributed to significant revenue growth, reaching $4.9 billion in 2024, underscoring our strong financial and operational performance.
Globally, we are focused on Latin America, where we provide smart weapons and homeland security solutions, including non-lethal systems and cyber capabilities, actively engaging with governments and authorities through partnerships through our LATAM office. In Africa and Asia, we continue to fulfil contracts and address growing interest in advanced naval vessels, alongside other defence and security solutions tailored to the region's unique requirements.
The breadth of our capability, paired with our rapidly expanding global footprint has positioned us as a trusted global provider of reliable, future-ready defence technologies.
Al Defaiya: Research and Development (R&D): What major developments has EDGE achieved in R&D and how important is this domain for the Group?
Al Marar: Research and development (R&D) are the cornerstones of EDGE’s technological advantage and global competitiveness, enabling us to deliver transformative solutions tailored to our customers’ evolving needs across the land, sea, air, space and cyberspace domains.
Our Technology and Innovation Centres of Excellence have streamlined and accelerated the development and deployment of our advanced solutions by leveraging strategic synergies across our entities to boost opportunities in critical, high-priority areas, such as radar systems, electronic warfare, artificial intelligence, and electro-optical technologies.
This approach has enabled us to fast-track customers’ access to cutting-edge technologies, significantly enhancing their operational capabilities.
EDGE’s commitment to R&D is not just about developing technology; it is about maintaining a competitive edge, addressing emerging threats, and ensuring our customers are equipped with the most advanced and effective solutions, regardless of their sector or domain.
Al Defaiya: EDGE has been reinforcing its offer and international presence with strategic investments, including stakes in key companies such as Estonia’s MILREM Robotics, Swiss unmanned helicopter manufacturer ANAVIA, Brazil’s non-lethal tech leader Condor, and Brazil’s smart weapons specialist SIATT. What role do these acquisitions play in boosting your capabilities and enhancing your offering?
Al Marar: Strategic acquisitions are at the core of EDGE’s growth strategy, driven by a commitment to integrating best-in-class technologies and world-leading expertise into our portfolio. Over the past two years, we have completed 13 carefully selected acquisitions, each chosen for the quality, innovation, and operational effectiveness of their solutions. These investments fast-track our capabilities, significantly expand our technological depth, and enhance our ability to deliver fully integrated, multi-domain solutions.
MILREM Robotics has strengthened our autonomous ground systems portfolio, allowing us to offer modular UGVs which are currently being adopted by 19 countries around the world, making them the most mature UGVs on the market. Similarly, ANAVIA has elevated our unmanned helicopter expertise, broadening our advanced air systems offering. SIATT and Condor have reinforced our leadership in precision-guided armaments, smart weapons, and non-lethal technologies, enabling us to meet a broader spectrum of security and defence needs.
Each of these investments accelerates our innovation pipeline, enhances our sovereign manufacturing capabilities, and extends our global footprint. With a focus on integrating leading-edge solutions across air, land, and sea, EDGE is delivering future-ready, end-to-end modernisation solutions that empower armed forces worldwide.
Al Defaiya: EDGE has inked Joint Venture deals with renowned international companies such as Fincantieri of Italy and Indra of Spain. How do these ventures further increase EDGE’s international export growth, exchange of knowledge and expertise, and pursuit of technological excellence?
Al Marar: Our partnerships with global industry leaders are strategic enablers of EDGE’s vision to open new avenues for market expansion and develop our defence and manufacturing capabilities, aligned with our strategic vision.
For example, MAESTRAL, our joint venture (JV) with Fincantieri, launched in 2024, has already delivered significant results which we hope to announce more details on soon.
Similarly, our JV with Indra Sistemas (Indra), PULSE, is set to accelerate the development of next-generation radar systems in the UAE, unlocking new opportunities in high-growth markets and further reinforcing our technological leadership.
The value of such collaborations extends far beyond commercial gains. By facilitating a strategic exchange of knowledge, expertise, and innovation, they amplify our ability to deliver locally developed solutions while contributing to our long-term vision of transforming the global defence landscape.
Al Defaiya: EDGE actively participates in major local, regional, and international events. How important is IDEX, and these other events, to the Group’s overall image? What goals and added values are sought from such participation?
Al Marar: IDEX, NAVDEX, and other leading defence exhibitions are critical platforms for EDGE to showcase its latest innovations, reinforce global partnerships, and highlight its role as a leader in defence technology and advanced manufacturing.
As the official strategic partner of IDEX 2025 and NAVDEX 2025, EDGE is set to present its largest-ever product portfolio, featuring over 200 advanced solutions across land, sea, air, cyber, and electronic warfare domains—doubling our offerings from IDEX 2023. This year, we will also highlight our expansion from 20 entities in 2023 to more than 35 in 2025, reflecting our exponential growth and commitment to shaping the future of defence technology.
Beyond major regional events, EDGE invests significantly in engaging with global markets by participating in key exhibitions across Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia. These events provide invaluable opportunities to meet face-to-face with delegations, government representatives, and industry leaders, strengthening relationships and demonstrating our commitment to supporting allied nations and defence ecosystems worldwide. Our presence at these events underscores EDGE’s role as a trusted global partner, facilitating strategic dialogue and expanding our international reach and market access.
Al Defaiya: How do you predict the performance of EDGE Group over the next 5 years: Future outlook in terms of orders and financial performance; new international markets, Joint Ventures and acquisitions; additional innovative products, etc.?
Al Marar: EDGE’s trajectory over the next five years will be defined by continuous growth, aggressive expansion, and cutting-edge technological innovation. Our focus remains on expanding our global presence by entering new high-growth markets while strengthening our position in existing ones, developing and deploying next-generation systems that enable customers to modernise their armed forces with fully integrated, end-to-end solutions, and enhancing our expertise in high-priority domains such as electronic warfare, autonomous systems, advanced naval platforms, and counter-drone technologies.
We will also continue to strengthen our industrial base through strategic acquisitions, new manufacturing capabilities, and technology-driven partnerships, ensuring that EDGE remains at the forefront of global defence innovation. At EDGE, we are not just developing defence technologies—we are transforming the future of military modernisation by providing full-spectrum solutions that enhance operational superiority across all domains.
This interview is also published in Arabic in Al Defaiya’s IDEX-NAVDEX 2025 Issue. Refer to LATEST ISSUE on the homepage of this site for more details
