Brazil has definitely entered the annual route of mandatory visits by the CEO of the defense conglomerate EDGE Group, Hamad Al Amar. In the last five days he was in the country, in April, the executive met daily with the , met marines in Rio de Janeiro and met with the two companies in which he has a stake in the country: SIATT and Condor.
It turns out that Brazil has become an important industrial plant for the group founded in the United Arab Emirates in recent years and supports a large part of the projection of US$624 million in revenue in Latin America in the year 2029.
It was through the acquisition of 50% of SIATT, a company specializing in the production of anti-ship missiles located in São José dos Campos (SP), that the group began its expansion here, in 2023. Since then, US$3 billion has already been invested in acquisitions and expansion of production capacity. In 2024, EDGE would become the majority partner of the non-lethal weapons manufacturer Condor, with a factory in Nova Iguaçu (RJ).
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Alone, the two arms of the holding were responsible for contributing revenue of US$133 million to the US$5 billion in global revenue recorded by the EDGE Group in 2025.
“The governments of the United Arab Emirates and Brazil are very aligned. There are so many other Emirati investments in Brazil. It’s a long-term relationship we have”, says Al Amar in an interview with InfoMoney. “But, of course, Brazil is the largest industry in Latin America and it is important for us to establish ourselves here. Not to mention the number of engineers and educational institutions that could benefit us in the country.”
Capacity expansion
Since the purchase of SIATT, whose main contract was the sale of MANSUP-ER missiles to the Brazilian Navy, the defense forces have been an important partner of EDGE in Brazil.
At LAAD Security, an event restricted to police forces, armed forces, authorities and professionals this Thursday (16), the Group announced a new partnership with the Brazilian Army to test CARACAL rifles in rigorous and realistic operational environments.
The company is about to close a new contract with the Armed Forces for another type of missile, says Al Amar, and is holding discussions for the sale of vehicles such as patrol boats — vehicles are part of the EDGE Group’s portfolio around the world.
To meet demand, which also includes exports to countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Angola, SIATT opened a new factory in Caçapava (SP), and is planning a new explosives testing unit by the end of the year in São José dos Campos, where its headquarters and the first manufacturing unit in Brazil are located.
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With Condor, the group serves more than 80 countries around the world. The line of non-lethal products announced the construction of a new factory in Brazil soon, in the state of São Paulo, in a city to be defined. In total, the EDGE Group invested between US$60 million and US$70 million in expanding factories in Brazil.
Drone production in Brazil
Also during LAAD Security, EDGE announced a memorandum of understanding with Indra Group to jointly explore the development and production of next generation radar systems in Latin America. The deal involves a tripartite strategic collaboration, combining Indra’s expertise in radar technologies and systems integration, SIATT’s industrial capacity and EDGE’s reach.
Solutions already developed in the United Arab Emirates and with market potential in Brazil should enter the company’s portfolio soon. “I am referring, for example, to land, water and aerial drones. We realized that Brazil has both the interest and the need for a reconnaissance capability that is still unexplored”, says Al Amar.
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Although there is no contract signed in the region, the expansion of drones is part of a global strategy by EDGE Group where Latin America could be supplied with a local factory: “What we will do now is, in fact, focus on drones to start producing them in international projects, expanding beyond the United Arab Emirates.”
