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Abu Dhabi /Â WAM
Emirates Defense Industries Company (EDIC) an integrated national defence services and manufacturing platform, announced the establishment of Barij Munitions, specialising in providing world-class ammunition products and services.
The company will be a manufacturer of all kinds of ammunition, including small arm, infantry, artillery and air-craft munitions.
Announcing the formal launch of the company on the second day of IDEX 2017, Abdulateef Al Butih, CEO of Barij Munitions, said that the company is manufacturing ammunition for the UAE Armed Forces. “95 percent of the ammunition is produced for the UAE GHQ, and rest for others in the region,” he said, adding, “We produce 14 new products, and they vary from small and medium to large size. These products are 100 percent made in UAE, we are just importing the raw material from outside.”
The company is a key component in strengthening the UAE’s defence industry, giving it a greater capacity to support the transfer of technology and know-how, and support ammunition manufacturing
industry needs, he said.
“Barij Munition’s vision is to be a leader in ammunition development by delivering cutting-edge products and services to better serve the UAE Armed forces”, said Al Butih. He added that adhering to international standards of safety and quality through automation and manufacturing using world-class practices is Barij Munitions top priority.”
Answering a question about Emiratisation in the company, he said that employment of Emiratis is one of the company’s top priorities. “We have 16 percent Emirati work force in the company, and the ratio of men to women is 60 – 40.”
Sara Al Shorouqi, Executive Director, Group Communications, Emirates Defence Industries Company, who was also present during the press conference, said that there were 16 subsidiary companies under the umbrella of EDIC. “And now we have 14 companies after the merger of Burkan Munitions Systems and Caracal Light Ammunition into Barij Munitions.”
Barij has many services on offer, such as de-militarisation, to safely dispose of munitions facilities, dismantling ammunition, cutting projectiles, removal of explosives from projectiles and disposal of both rocket motors and smoke ammunitions. The company also offers screening services and testing by which to examine different types of ammunition and materials, such as mortars, artillery shells, grenades and smoke generators.
Barij’s portfolio includes laboratories which have been certified and licensed by the Ministry of Health of the UAE and holds ISO 17025 certification, a chemical laboratory that provides technical support and manufacturing requirements for quality testing of all explosives, environmental analysis of wastewater and monitoring air quality, and an X-ray laboratory which is accredited and licensed by the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation and the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation.
Embraer Defence and Security presents its KC-390
Abu Dhabi /Â WAM
Embraer Defence and Security, an aerospace and defence specialist company in Latin America, has unveiled the Embraer KC-390, a tactical transport aircraft, at IDEX 2017. The company said that the region has great potential, and it hopes to gain orders after the interest shown in the plane by some countries.
The aircraft is designed to set new standards in its category while presenting the lowest life-cycle cost in the market. It can perform a variety of missions, including cargo and troop transport, troop and cargo air delivery, aerial refueling, search and rescue and forest fire fighting.
Jackson Schneider, Chief Executive Officer of the company, said, “We have received a positive response from the region, which has very high potential for us. The aircraft performed extremely well during its test flights last year and we are very positive as many countries in the region have shown interest in acquiring more information on the plane.
“We will bring this plane here in June and July, and in my view we have the best product for the region as it can perform multiple tasks with very low maintenance costs.”
He continued, “We have transferred all our commercial jet experience to defence, and we conceived the engineering of the plane to have lower maintenance and the lowest operational costs. This is a faster plane in which we have used the engine from the Airbus 320 with its proven engine capabilities, and is very cheap to maintain and operate.”
He said that the company will deliver 2 planes to the Brazilian Air Force next year.
The KC-390 is a project of the Brazilian Air Force and Embraer, and industrial partnerships were also established with Argentina, Portugal and Czech Republic.
The first prototype of the plane performed its maiden flight in February 2015 and the aircraft is now in final flight testing stage. It is capable of transporting a payload of up to 23 tons, including supplies on pallets, helicopters, armored wheeled vehicles, and troops (80 soldiers or 66 paratroopers).
The KC-390 can refuel other planes mid-flight with the installation of two removable fuel tanks. An advanced self-defence system increases the aircraft’s survival capability in hostile environments.