Despite global cuts in defense budgets, providers of military technology surveillance and attack drones witnessed a boom at the 11th International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) which were held from Feb. 17 to Feb. 21.
This year's IDEX, the biggest weapons show in the Middle East and one of the biggest worldwide, had for the first time set up a dedicated hall for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
According to global defense research group Jane's, the potential for sales of UAVs in the Middle East stands sales worth 1 billion U.S. dollars in the following 10 years.
Drones became an important item in military campaigns after cluster ammunition was banded by 110 states in line with the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2008, said Oliver Hoffmann, spokesperson of Germany's defense giant Rheinmetall. The use of drones in modern warfare, as done by the U.S. air force's "war on terror" is very controversial, as attacks on suspected insurgents also killed civilians and therefore proofed not always to be as surgical as defense firms usually claim.
One of the major deals announced at the 5-day IDEX which ended here Thursday was that the host country United Arab Emirates (UAE) ordered Predator drones from U.S. manufacturer General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc for 197 million U.S. dollars.
Italy's Piaggio Aero Industries unveiled a new UAV called P.180 Avanti in honor of a twin-propeller plane which looks like the drone. The P.180 Avanti made its first tests last week at an air force base in Italy and Piaggio Aero is now looking for buyers in the Middle East. SELEX Galileo, also from Italy, exhibited the Falco Evo, a UAV which can carry payloads from 85 to 120 kilogram and fly up to 20 hours.
While western defense heavyweights such as Boeing or Lockheed Martin have a technological advance in the UAE sector, new market participants emerge. Ronnie Foster, marketing manager at Denel Dynamics in South Africa said a lot of contacts had been made at this year's IDEX but he was unable to disclose which countries might be interested.
Also present was state-owned GIDS from Pakistan which showed for the first time its home-made drones. GIDS technical director Tahrir Hameed said his firm's drones were made of fiberglass and were cheaper and lighter than those of competing firms, "which is ideal for training purposes."
