The Third Edition of the Middle East Missile and Air Defense Symposium (MEMAD) will be held on April 11 & 12, 2012 at the Armed Forces Officers Club in Abu Dhabi.

MEMAD is held under the full support of the UAE Armed Forces and UAE Air Force and Air Defense and gathers key decision-makers from around the GCC and key partners from North America and Western Europe.

Similar to 2010, MEMAD will host senior level delegations from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain.

As a dedicated missile defense event, MEMAD blends the latest insights from government, industry and academia to create the most comprehensive technology-centric forum for understanding the critical challenges of emergent missile threats by examining state-of-the-art missile defense systems against the full spectrum of air and missile threats.

Key background themes at MEMAD focus around multi-tier seamlessly integrated air and missile defense, as well as strategic technology-centric discussion on identifying and plugging capability gaps, operationalizing missile defense, as well as on working achieving regional synchronization.

Given the emerging threat and geopolitical environment, GCC states are accelerating efforts to synchronize capabilities in support of collective defense. Within that backdrop, MEMAD will offer participants an opportunity to stay at the leading edge of discussions and developments on regional integrated air and missile defense in a highly focused atmosphere.

Confirmed Sponsors to MEMAD 2012 include: Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, MBDA.