The United Arab Emirates' EDGE Group and Indonesia's Republikorp signed a landmark $7 billion cooperation agreement at the Dubai Airshow 2025 on November 18, marking EDGE's largest international programme to date, with comprehensive financing and procurement provided through the UAE to advance Indonesia's defence modernisation, technological capability, and industrial autonomy, according to EDGE Managing Director and CEO Hamad Al Marar.
The agreement encompasses critical components including technology transfer, localised production facilities, co-development initiatives, and a comprehensive modernisation programme for the Indonesian Armed Forces, featuring advanced defence systems such as the SKYKNIGHT air defence missile system, next-generation infantry fighting vehicles, unmanned stealth missile boats, cyber defence capabilities, and small arms ammunition production that will form the cornerstone of Indonesia's path toward defence self-reliance.
Hamad Al Marar emphasized that the partnership aims to shape a modernised, self-sustaining defence ecosystem strengthening Indonesia's national security and industrial capability through enduring collaboration and delivery of advanced integrated systems, while the deal was signed in the presence of representatives from Indonesia's Ministry of Defence to support accelerated defence industrial development.
Norman Joesoef, Group Chairman of Republikorp, described the $7 billion partnership as a major step toward Indonesia's long-term defence autonomy, industrial independence, and international confidence, stating that the collaboration represents an investment in both systems and human capital for the strategic benefit of the UAE and Indonesia in advanced defence manufacturing.
Joesoef further characterized the agreement as transcending corporate cooperation, calling it "a bond between two brotherly nations" that will strengthen both countries' positions within the UAE's global defence supply chain network while providing Indonesia with the technological foundation and training necessary to achieve greater self-sufficiency in meeting its national security requirements.
