During the Italy-UAE Business Forum, EDGE Group announced that its collaboration with ELT Group was further strengthened through the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI).

The Forum is periodically held with the participation of business representatives from the UAE and Italy to discuss opportunities to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, especially in priority areas.

The LOI was signed in the presence of prominent leaders, including UAE President His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, underscoring a strong bilateral commitment to advancing technological innovation in the defence sector. This significant milestone reaffirms the joint commitment of both companies to harness advanced technology and defence solutions to address global security challenges.

The partnership between EDGE and ELT Group has evolved through several strategic initiatives, the latest being the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed during IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi, which lays the groundwork for a joint venture focused on multi-domain electronic defence initiatives, marking the next phase of the collaborative journey.

Hamad Al Marar, Managing Director & CEO of EDGE Group, said: “This second major milestone in the important partnership with ELT Group reinforces our commitment to jointly expanding our capabilities and striving for industry leadership in the development of sophisticated technologies for the electromagnetic spectrum and cyberspace.”

“By combining our expertise and scale, we are poised to capitalise on valuable opportunities for success and economic growth. Our approach will continue to prioritise international collaboration and innovation across all domains, ensuring we play a key role in safeguarding the security and protection of customers and nations worldwide,” he added.

Both companies are committed to enhancing local expertise in technical support, maintenance, production, and supply chain management within the electronic defence sector. Their collaborative efforts are designed to contribute to the development of a sovereign and resilient UAE ecosystem that fosters innovation and sustainable growth.

Enzo Benigni, CEO of ELT Group, said: “The recent agreements reinforce an already solid partnership and create the opportunity for common growth in the search for challenging solutions to modern global security challenges. At the same time, they allow ELT Group to return to the country a complete product in terms of knowledge, technology and structured industrial cooperation.”

As a company that has been present in the United Arab Emirates for over 40 years, the long path of collaboration with the country and ELT’s strategic vision have been reaffirmed and underscored by a major step forward at the recent IDEX defence exhibition. This has been realised over time through three milestones: a partnership with ETIMAD, an agreement with Khalifa University, and a MOU with EDGE Group.

Through these partnerships, ELT Group aims to increase local expertise in knowledge, technical support, maintenance, production and supply chain with reference to the Electronic Defence sector. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the building of a sovereign UAE ecosystem by fostering the growth of local infrastructure.

Cy4Gate, a Group investee with a reputation for excellence in cyber intelligence and cyber security, is also involved in this journey as a strategic enabler in all domains, where the acquisition, management and protection of information are decisive factors for defence and security.

In 2023, ELT had already signed an MOU with ETIMAD, an Emirates-based advanced technology solutions and services company, for an integrated logistics support (ILS) hub for electronic defence (EW) systems, which was inaugurated just a few days ago at the IDEX defence exhibition.

In 2024, an agreement was signed with Khalifa University of Science and Technology to establish the Electro-Magnetic Spectrum Application (EMSA) Lab. This lab will play a central role in knowledge enhancement and research and development in the field of electromagnetic spectrum applications.