EDGE Group entity, HALCON, a regional leader in the design and production of guided weapons systems and beyond, announced it has secured a contract worth AED 4.7 billion with the UAE Armed Forces to supply advanced precision-guided glide munitions. The new contract will provide the UAE Armed Forces with HALCON’s DESERT STING 25 (DS-25), a light weight, air-to-surface precision-guided munition, designed to be deployed on multiple racks on aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The contract for DS-25 PGMs underpins EDGE and HALCON’s commitment to the UAE Armed Forces in providing advanced systems and solutions that enable mission flexibility and ensure the safeguarding of the UAE.
The DS-25 is part of HALCON’s DESERT STING line of lightweight, precision-guided glide weapons, designed to accurately strike targets with differing payloads and stand-off ranges. The Desert Sting is a family of light weight, air platform released, precision guided, glide weapons (GGW). Desert Sting utilizes inertial guidance augmented by global navigation satellite system (GNSS) information (GAINS). A semi-active laser (SAL) seeker configuration (with or without GNSS) further improves accuracy performance against designated targets.
Saeed Al Mansoori, Senior Vice President of ADVANCED CONCEPTS, said: “The DS-25 is a precision munition with an effective standoff range and capable of integration onto a wide range of aircraft types. This contract will provide the UAE Armed Forces with flexibility in their air strike operations. We are delighted to be able to provide the UAE Armed Forces with this capability and further our relationship as we seek to provide innovative, UAE-made products. HALCON is also proud to be at the forefront of developing sovereign defence capabilities in line with the UAE’s ‘Make it in the Emirates’ initiative. Additionally, the DS-25 will be produced at our cutting-edge manufacturing facilities which exemplifies the UAE government’s Industry 4.0 initiative.”
HALCON is a regional and international leader in the design and production of precision-guided munition and loitering munition software, solutions, systems and beyond. With in-house capabilities across the production value chain, the company develop cost-effective systems that deliver the reliability and accuracy customers require to achieve their operational and tactical goals. ADVANCED CONCEPTS is a new business unit within EDGE which is dedicated to the design and deployment of advanced, innovative technologies. ADVANCED CONCEPTS focuses on accelerating the rapid development of critical innovation projects from concept definition and technical feasibility stage (TRL6+) to detailed engineering design, before handing these projects back to EDGE’s large portfolio of companies for industrialisation and commercialisation.
