Miles Chambers, VP – International Business Development, EDGE.
Ever since its inception, EDGE has aimed to be a global leader in key defence technologies by offering a multi-domain portfolio of highly competitive solutions for export. Over these years, EDGE has established a meaningful presence in almost all regions of the globe and is expanding its global footprint to propel business growth. At DSA Malaysia EDGE will reinforce its current partnerships within the local defence industry ecosystem, foster new relationships, and support Malaysia and the wider region in their efforts to bolster national security. “…we are taking a collaborative approach to product development and production, investing in innovative technologies, and offering advanced solutions that disrupt the global defence industry,” said Miles Chambers, VP – International Business Development, EDGE. In an interview with Aeromag, he talks about the company’s growing business, diverse operations, plans etc.
Since its inception, EDGE has aimed to be a global leader, primarily in autonomous systems, smart weapons, and electronic warfare. How successful has EDGE been in achieving this? What are the major milestones?
Our focus is on disrupting the global defence industry with an advanced, multi-domain portfolio of solutions, backed up by aggressive product development, calculated investments, and strategic partnerships. What we need to consider is our successes to this end.
Take our autonomous systems portfolio for example. We started with just three products, today that number stands at 50, and the majority originate from the UAE. We have rapidly introduced industry-leading solutions through our investments in Milrem Robotics and ANAVIA, which also gives us a high-technology footprint in Europe. Through our cooperative approach to product development, we have established mutually beneficial partnerships with promising aerial propulsion technologies in the pipeline.
The net result of our methods is that we are receiving some of the world’s largest orders across the autonomous systems, smart weapons, and electronic warfare domains.
EDGE has recently leapt into the manufacturing of next-generation radar systems through a Spanish collaboration. Could you talk more about it?
We strongly focus on strategic partnerships and take a cooperative approach to product development. We are rapidly expanding our capabilities across all domains, and through our agreement with Indra, we will establish a joint venture in Abu Dhabi to develop and manufacture next-generation radar systems.
What is most important about this joint venture company is that it will open a large pipeline of orders, significantly enhancing both EDGE and Indra’s portfolios, and is set to become a major industry player in the radar sector.
What are your operations in the Advanced Airborne Domain? Also, can you elaborate on the latest operations in the robotics and armoured vehicles sector?
Air and land vehicles are becoming increasingly autonomous, precise, and interconnected, and we purposely tailor our solutions to meet these demands. The key roles that our broad portfolio of UAV and UGV solutions fulfil include robust tactical logistics, actionable data-centric intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, precision air strike, and ground fire support.
It is interesting to recognise the impact of autonomous systems in operations. As the technology develops, so does the capability of a threat. To serve our customers best, we strongly focus on research and development, while continuously investing in emerging technologies and capitalising on collaboration opportunities.
EDGE has been exploring partnerships to integrate its weapons on foreign aerial platforms. Could you elaborate?
We are beyond just exploring these partnerships. Our smart weapon integration programmes are in various phases, including the Baykar Bayraktar TB2, the General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian, the HAL Tejas LCA, and the Dassault Rafale.
As I said, we are cultivating mutually beneficial strategic relationships with industry leaders to serve our customers best, and offer top-tier, cost-effective smart weapon solutions to end-users of these advanced platforms.
More importantly, I think these programmes draw attention to the fact that we are being recognised as a serious player in the market. Within a few years, we have obtained a major share of the global smart weapons market, second to only two companies that have been existing for a century. So, the bottom line is that we are delivering on what we said when we started in 2019 and these integration programmes point to that.
What are the highlights of your participation in DSA Malaysia? What can we expect from EDGE at the expo?
We must consider the unique security requirements and challenges of the region. Our participation aims to address this with an advanced suite of autonomous air and land systems, smart weapons, secure communications capabilities, and electronic warfare solutions. There is also significant focus in the region on the naval domain and the protection of sovereign waters, EDGE recently signed a joint venture with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri and is actively pursuing opportunities to supply, OPVs and Patrol Vessels to support these Naval operations.
The event bears significance to EDGE, as it provides an opportunity to reinforce our current partnerships within the local defence industry ecosystem, foster new relationships, and support Malaysia and the wider region in their efforts to bolster national security.
How do you look at the Southeast Asian market for expanding your business? What are existing operations or collaborations in the region?
Malaysia and the UAE have strong bilateral ties in the interest of security, with ongoing joint military exercises and collaboration in military training. We aim to build on this strong relationship, while similarly expanding on the UAE’s bilateral trade within the region.
CARACAL, our precision firearm producer, has an agreement with Indonesia’s Pindad, for joint production of various weapons, including the CAR 816 assault rifle, and an agreement with Ketech Asia, based in Malaysia, for localised assembly and resale of the CAR 816.
LAHAB, our manufacturer of small to large-calibre ammunition, has a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia’s PT Dahana to explore cooperation in the production of explosives and a joint investment in the construction of a TNT plant at the Dahana Energetic Material Center in Subang. Our naval arm, Abu Dhabi Ship Building, also signed a memorandum of understanding with PT PAL Indonesia, to explore cooperation in producing a range of interceptors, landing craft, and rigid-hull inflatable boats.
More recently, ORYXLABS, our cybersecurity company, and Thailand’s Digitech One signed a partnership agreement to enhance critical infrastructure capabilities and increase local cybersecurity awareness across Thailand.
These collaborations signify our proactive engagement within the region, strategically leveraging opportunities to boost local industries and foster sustainable growth.
How strong are EDGE’s export operations? What are the expansion plans?
From inception, we aimed to be a global leader in key defence technologies by offering a multi-domain portfolio of highly competitive solutions for export and now the numbers speak for themselves. Since 2019, we have increased our international orders by over 300 per cent, and last year, the international business represented a third of our order intake. However, to understand the strength of our exports and expansion plans, one needs to consider our recent orders, acquisitions, and partnerships, which have given us a significant footprint in five continents.
Firstly, we recently announced orders from major international customers in Africa and South America, which include landmark contracts for best-in-class corvettes, unmanned helicopters, and precision anti-ship missiles.
Secondly, we have acquired high-technology companies in Europe and South America, in addition to established subsidiaries, facilities, or offices throughout Europe, and in North Africa, North America, and South America. Thirdly, we have ongoing partnerships across most regions in Asia.
In a nutshell, we have established a meaningful presence in almost all regions of the globe and we plan to address the requirements of existing and prospective customers within those regions by taking a collaborative approach to product development and production, investing in innovative technologies, and offering advanced solutions that disrupt the global defence industry.
