The United Arab Emirates, bolstered by a $6.4 billion purchase of 80 F-16s, is developing its defense industry, said a report by Middle East News Line MELN.
The F-16 deal, defense sources told MELN, include a high percentage of offsets meant to develop defense industries in the UAE. This will focus on aircraft maintenance and overhaul.
A key beneficiary of the F-16 deal is Gulf Aircraft Maintenance [GAMCO]. The company plans to expand its operations into providing services and logistics for military aircraft, said the report.
The UAE has chosen General Electric to supply engines for the F-16 and the Mirage-2000 from Dassault.
"The recent UAE Air Force purchase of the GE engine with the F-16 aircraft means that Gamco's engine overhaul facility will be maximized, providing comprehensive maintenance and services," company managing director David Jonker was quoted as saying.
In another report by MELN, it said that UAE is upgrading its police and security forces, training them in language and law enforcement skills.
The UAE effort is meant to increase security cooperation with the West, particularly with the United States amid threats of a terrorist outrage by Saudi billionaire fugitive Osama Bin Laden, the report said.
UAE officials refuse to disclose specific threats in their country or in their region, said the report, but they acknowledge that they must increase the skills of their security forces, particularly in the officer corps.
"The way things were in the 1970s, 80s and 90s cannot continue," Maj. Gen. Saif Al Shaabar, the UAE Interior Ministry's undersecretary of security said in an interview. "We want to bring the level of security (up) to international levels. We must train people at the highest levels. We must improve the training of officers." – Albawaba.com
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