Exporting and attending aerospace and defence trade fairs go hand in hand
- Assessing the benefits of being there... or not
- Strategic partnerships with large companies in the Emirates
The nations of the Middle East, and in particular the Gulf countries, are very important markets and showcases for defence and security products and services, as well as for the aerospace sector, both military and civil.
This is the view of large industrial corporations in the sector worldwide, as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, which year after year are increasingly attending events organised by the authorities and official bodies of the countries in the region, attended by senior political, military and business leaders from around the world.
This is the case of the Dubai Airshow 2025, which was held from 17 to 21 November in the aforementioned city, the largest in the United Arab Emirates, and which, together with the international benchmark IDEX, organised every two years in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the Emirates and the country's second most populous city, one of the two largest aerospace and defence exhibitions held in the Arab nation, considered international benchmarks in the sector.
Both Idex and the Dubai Airshow are opportunities not to be missed for companies seeking alliances, expansion and visibility in markets with high growth potential. This is why the 19th edition of the Dubai Airshow has brought together ‘more than 1,500 exhibitors from 115 nations and 148,000 professionals from the aerospace, defence and air mobility industries’, welcoming ‘490 delegations from third countries’, according to data provided on 24 November by its organisers.
A total of 21 nations have endorsed the presence of their companies under a national pavilion, including Australia, Brazil, the Czech Republic, China and Pakistan... and, of course, Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. This has not been the case for Spain, which has not had the minimum number of companies with stands to organise an official pavilion.
Assessing the benefits of being there... or not
However, the Ministry of Defence, specifically the Directorate General for Strategy and Innovation in the Defence Industry, headed by Air Force Lieutenant General Miguel Ivorra, wanted to support the efforts of those who showcased their capabilities in Dubai. An official delegation headed by the Deputy Director General of Defence Industrial Strategy, Army General Vicente Torres, visited the exhibition, the stands of Spanish companies and held meetings with authorities from the host country.
The missed opportunity, the significant absence from the Dubai fair, would be a good time for the main associations in the sector to reflect on the advisability of increasing the international presence of the national industrial fabric at established fairs and at emerging ones with high growth potential. Each company knows its capabilities and possibilities for investing in this type of event, which are almost exaggeratedly widespread in many countries. However, it should be borne in mind that the national defence industrial fabric is not profitable in the domestic market alone, as is also the case in France and Italy.
The state-owned Isdefe, a public engineering and consulting company belonging to the Ministry of Defence, attended Dubai with its own stand, as did Integración Tecnológica Empresarial (ITE), dedicated to engineering, industrial process optimisation and maintenance services for aeronautics and defence, Fossa and Satlantis, specialising in small infrared Earth observation satellites. Senior executives from at least Aciturri, Europavia, Hisdesat, Indra, the Oesia Group and Open Cosmos were also present to take part in forums and sign agreements.
The Spanish business representation could be described as hybrid, both in terms of space and defence. Dubai Airshow had set up a pavilion dedicated to the space industries, which was attended by the Spanish companies Hisdesat, the jewel in the crown of Hisdesat and a benchmark in secure satellite communications, Fossa, Open Cosmos and Satlantis.
Although it did not have a corporate stand, Hisdesat attended the fair to strengthen its existing ties with its institutional customers in the Emirates and to formalise a collaboration in secure satellite communications and Earth observation with the Emirati company Space42. This company was formed in April 2024 through a merger between the state-owned satellite communications operator Yahsat and the also state-owned Bayanat, which specialises in geospatial data analysis in the field of artificial intelligence.
Strategic partnerships with large companies in the Emirates
Fossa, a small Spanish satellite manufacturer and pioneer in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, received an award from the European Space Agency (ESA) during the event for marketing its products to major companies in the Emirates, including the powerful Edge.
Madrid-based Fossa has already put 24 nanosatellites into orbit, the last three just a few hours ago, aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 launcher on its Transporter 15 mission. Named FossaSat, each weighs 6 kilos and is dedicated to ‘connectivity and signal intelligence,’ explains Julián Fernández, executive president of Fossa and co-founder of the company, who has stated that ‘we are currently expanding in the field of defence.’
The Catalan company Open Cosmos was in Dubai so that its CEO, Rafael Jordá, could take part in the panel entitled ‘Connecting space technology with Earth's needs’, alongside the deputy director of the Italian Space Agency for international cooperation, Maria Chiara Noto, and the director of service marketing at the Egyptian Space Agency, Mohamed Ibrahim. They exchanged views on how to achieve greater collaboration between the private sector, governments and NGOs. Open Cosmos has also launched two of its satellites into orbit on the recent Transporter 15 mission.
Although Indra did not have a corporate stand, its top executives, its president, Ángel Escribano, and its CEO, José Vicente de los Mozos, did not miss the opportunity to take the first steps towards creating a joint venture in Spain, together with the powerful Emirati business group EDGE, which brings together around 40 companies, focused on the development, production and maintenance of loitering munitions and smart weapons for the Spanish market and European defence programmes.
In the civil aviation sector, Ángel Escribano signed an agreement in Dubai with the Emirati industrial corporation Calidus, laying the foundations for the creation of another joint venture dedicated to the development and manufacture of state-of-the-art simulators for training aircraft pilots, unmanned aerial vehicles and even air traffic controllers. Based in Abu Dhabi (Emirates), the customer market for what would be the first Integrated Regional Simulation and Strategic Training Centre in the Middle East would cover the Middle East, but also Africa, Asia and Europe.
The Indra-Calidus alliance envisages technology transfer by the Spanish company to co-design and co-develop civil and military training simulators, hardware and software, as well as air traffic control towers, all of which would be manufactured, integrated and certified in the Gulf country. This has been agreed by Ángel Escribano and Khalifa Murad Alblooshi, the executive director of Calidus.
