Marrakech – UAE defense group EDGE signed two agreements with Morocco’s Administration of National Defence (ADN) on Friday at the Marrakech Air Show 2026, moving to arm the Royal Moroccan Air Force’s unmanned fleet and to explore local arms production in the kingdom.
The first agreement is a contract to supply two precision weapons to the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF). Under the deal, EDGE will provide its DESERT STING 16 (DS-16) guided-glide weapon and its THUNDER P-31 precision-guided munition. The ADN oversees defense procurement for the Royal Armed Forces (FAR).
The contract covers more than delivery. It also includes integrating both weapons across the RMAF’s fleet of unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). EDGE will handle the aircraft modifications and software needed to carry and employ the munitions operationally.
The two systems differ in weight and reach. The DS-16 is a 23 kg guided-glide weapon with a range of up to 15 km. The THUNDER P-31 converts the MK 81 general-purpose munition into a precision-guided weapon, with a range of up to 10 km when released from drones and up to 20 km from high-speed, high-altitude platforms.
Both pair GNSS-assisted inertial navigation with an optional semi-active laser seeker, and both are developed and manufactured in the UAE.
Saif Al Dahbashi, President of Missiles & Weapons at EDGE, tied the contract to the air force’s operational needs. The deal is built around the performance the RMAF’s missions demand, with every system backed by “assured supply and long-term sustainment,” Al Dahbashi explained. And he framed the agreement as a foundation for “an enduring relationship” with the North African country.
A push to build weapons on Moroccan soil
The second agreement points toward building weapons in Morocco rather than importing them. EDGE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the ADN to identify local production opportunities for high-performance small arms and aeronautical engines, through partnerships with Moroccan companies.
Two EDGE entities anchor that plan. CARACAL designs and manufactures high-performance small arms and small-calibre ammunition. POWERTECH develops aero engines and propulsion systems for unmanned and autonomous platforms.
Both belong to EDGE’s defense manufacturing ecosystem in the UAE, which the group is extending to partner nations building their own defense industrial base.
Hamad Al Marar linked the MoU to EDGE’s wider approach. He called Morocco a key partner for the group in Africa and described a model built on knowledge exchange, local production, and technology transfer.
Working with Moroccan companies on firearms and aeronautical engines, according to Al Marar, would help build “an industrial backbone” for the kingdom’s defense requirements.
Both agreements were signed Friday at the Marrakech Air Show, where EDGE exhibited for the second time. In an interview with Morocco World News (MWN) at the event, Miles Chambers, Senior Vice President for International Business at EDGE Group, laid out how the company sees Morocco within its global strategy.
EDGE sees Morocco as a hub for Africa and its supply chain
Chambers described EDGE as a UAE-based defense conglomerate with more than 40 entities. “Today, we’re in the top 35 largest defense and aerospace companies globally,” he told MWN. The company brought a broad set of capabilities to Marrakech, with a particular focus on electronic warfare.
Modern systems have to keep working under pressure, he noted, stressing: “It’s very important for all of these systems, UAVs, loitering munitions, precision-guided weapons to be able to operate in denied environments.” That requirement reflects hard experience, since the company has “had a lot of lessons learned from recent conflicts” and folded them into its platforms.
The company’s showcase ranged across autonomous systems. Chambers pointed to long-range, long-endurance platforms such as REACH-S, loitering and strike munitions like SHADOW-25 and SHADOW-50, and precision-guided weapons including DESERT STING and the long-range ALTARIC.
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He also described artificial intelligence as a growing thread. “UAE has come out as one of the global leaders in autonomous, in artificial intelligence, and this is something we look at integrating across a wide range of our solutions,” he noted.
Chambers placed partnership at the center of the company’s export model. EDGE now has customers in more than 91 countries, he told MWN, and much of its work rests on collaboration as states seek greater sovereignty over defense technologies.
“A lot of countries look to how they can increase their sovereignty, particularly relating to defense technologies,” he said. Morocco, in his account, is no different: “Morocco has been heavily investing in expanding its industrial base into the defense and aerospace sector.”
On what the two sides might build together, Chambers looked past local manufacturing to meet domestic needs, sketching opportunities beyond them. Much of EDGE’s global work, he explained, “has been on the basis of technology transfer,” and he saw “multiple opportunities for EDGE to work with the Moroccan government, Moroccan industry.”
He described using the kingdom as an export market, integrating Moroccan industry into EDGE’s supply chain, and pursuing joint research and development. He also pointed to the country’s workforce. “Today Morocco has amazing human talent, and we’re also looking at how we can collaborate with academic institutions here to foster the next generation of engineering talents,” he said.
Chambers described the relationship between Morocco and the UAE as “a very strong and healthy, brotherly relationship.” On that basis, he saw two roles for the North African country. “We could see Morocco as being a regional hub for manufacturing to support a lot of the countries on the African continent,” he said, while also treating Moroccan industry as part of EDGE’s global supply chain, serving its customer base across 91 countries.
EDGE’s push in Morocco mirrors its activity elsewhere in Africa. In Angola, the group is delivering a €1 billion naval modernization program of three BR71 MK II Combattante corvettes and six HT-100 NAVAL unmanned helicopters, and has signed a Letter of Intent for a multi-year border security program with the country’s Ministry of Interior.
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