A HEDA missile on display at Emirati firm Calidus’s exhibit at IDEX 2025. (Agnes Helou / Breaking Defense)
IDEX 2025 — The United Arab Emirates today announced an AED 3.76 billion ($1 billion USD) deal with local defense firm Calidus for a new missile system, the largest deal announced on the second day of the International Defense Exposition (IDEX) in Abu Dhabi.
The “Phase 1” announcement, made by the governmental Tawazun Council, was sparse on details, including the number of systems to be procured, but representatives at Calidus’s expansive exhibit here said the system was a ground-to-ground missile system that can be mounted on armored vehicles, including light infantry fighting vehicles. (In its announcement, Tawazun briefly showed a photo of the system with several missiles that appeared to be mounted on a heavy duty truck.)
Calidus occupies a large event space in an outdoor pavilion, where it’s showing off several armored vehicles, one of which featured an “ALHEDA” mounted missile pod. Also at the stand, the company displayed a new, rugged 8×8 vehicle, which local media said was the “first to be designed and produced in the region.”
Though IDEX focuses more on ground systems (and sister show NAVDEX focuses on maritime), Calidus is also an aircraft producer. Breaking Defense reported in November 2023 that the UAE Air Force had become the firm’s first customer for its B250 trainer aircraft.
Today’s missile system deal represents a sizeable chunk of the total value of agreements signed so far at the show by the Emirati government, according to Tawazun, which reported in all 18 deals have been inked with local and international firms, worth a total of AED 9.8 billion. Day one involved nine local deals and four international deals, totaling AED 4 billion.
Agnes Helou contributed to this report.
