"There are lots of interest [from a] number of countries, but these things are taking a lot of time and high-level decisions,” Turkish Aerospace Industries General Manager Mehmet Demiroglu told Breaking Defense.
"The significant number of agreements signed by EDGE with international weapon manufacturers speaks volumes about the Emirati company’s 360-degree business expansion strategy, securing a strong foothold in the West and Asian defense markets alike," Leonardo Jacopo Maria Mazzucco, an analyst at Gulf State Analytics, told Breaking Defense.
At the previous edition of IDEX, which took place in early 2023 and just a few months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Russian companies were not listed as official exhibitors and relegated to a separate outdoor pavilion.
"We've been doing export for 15, 20 years, but it's just been in recent years that we've really been reaching out to create global defense industrial base, creating global partnerships, partnerships in local countries," Hanwha Global Defense President & CEO Michael Coulter told Breaking Defense.
The Trump administration "mean[s] business now, and they want to see the business deals happen and where we've been, maybe stuck in policy and bureaucrats," GA-ASI President David Alexander told Breaking Defense on the show floor at IDEX 2025.
GM Defense President Steve duMont told Breaking Defense the company has "been looking at this vehicle for application in the Middle East region, which is very important region for us."
A selection of photos from on the ground at IDEX 2025.
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.
"Our plan is to continuously grow. Our plan is to grow internationally," EDGE CEO Hamad Al Marar told Breaking Defense. "Our plan is to see how we can establish alliances with countries outside the UAE."
The maker of the Switchblade family of drones is pushing into the maritime domain with the new version of its Jump-20 system.
A new chapter is beginning in U.S.-UAE defense cooperation, opening the door to further collaboration.
The deal was signed Wednesday by Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar and founder of Indonesian firm Republikorp Norman Joesoef after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Indonesia, Turkish news agency Anadolu reported.
POWERTECH is EDGE's first company dedicated to developing and producing aero engines and complete propulsion systems.
Switching to hydrogen meant the design of the Raider was made to take advantage of stealth-like characteristics, including what the Heven Drones CEO said is a low radar cross section.