In the first week of February, a new Bilateral meeting was held in Zaragoza between the armed forces of the Arab Emirates and Spain.
Organized by the Ministries of Defense of the United Arab Emirates and Spain, these bilateral meetings allow both Armies to monitor and follow up their collaboration programs and plans and strengthen cooperation links between both countries.
On this opportunity, a group of companies from the Defense Sector of both countries UAE and Spain were selected with the purpose of present their capabilities to both Armed Forces delegations. And on the other hand, create a forum to facilitate the knowledge and experience exchange between companies of both countries which support the establishment or consolidation of future collaboration opportunities.
The delegations of both countries were headed by Lieutenant General Ishaq Saleh Albaloushi (Undersecretary Assistance for Defense Industry and Capability Development) and Admiral Santiago González Gómez (DiGAM, General Director of Armament and Material) respectively.
At the opening of the meeting, Colonel Loureiro, Head of the Area of Plans and Bilateral Relations of OFICAEX (General Directorate of International Relations of the DGAM) highlighted the relevance of this type of meetings to strengthen cooperation and collaboration between the Defense Industry of both countries, as well as OFICAEX’s commitment to continue strengthening such cooperation for the mutual benefit of both countries.
The delegation of Emirati companies was headed by the Emirates Defense Companies Council (EDCC) and Tawazun Economic Council and highlighted companies such as EDGE, CALIDUS, EARTH, AL HAMRA, etc. On the part of Spain, he highlighted the presence of some of the main companies of the Spanish Defense Industry: AERTEC, ARPA, ESCRIBANO, EVERIS, EXPAL, HISPANO VEMA, INDRA, ITP Aero, NAMMO, NAVANTIA, TECNOBIT, etc.
- Left: Colonel Loureiro, Head of Area of Plans and Bilateral Relations, OFICAEX, DGAM
- Right: Rafael Arruga, Director of Business Development, Hispano Vema
In this context, Hispano Vema had the opportunity to present its capabilities in CBRN decontamination field. During his presentation, the Director of Business Development of Hispano Vema, Mr. Rafael Arruga reviewed the main challenges in both civil and military fields that the increasing threats of incidents or attacks with chemical, biological and radiological agents pose to Security and Defense Departments and Agencies. As well as the need for CBRN Decontamination new technologies and systems that the Armed Forces are demanding to have their CBRN decontamination capabilities updated.
This has prompted the Defense Industry to a continuous process of innovation and development of new CBRN decontamination systems and technologies, which ensure both maximum effectiveness in the decontamination process and the minimum response time in any type of scenario and with any type of Contaminant agent.
In this context, the state-of-the-art of CBRN decontamination technologies focuses on more efficient systems for decontamination of people (both valid and outpatient) and new technologies for the decontamination of electronic equipment (as part of critical infrastructure protection programs).
Rafael Arruga highlighted, on the other hand, the need for modular and flexible decontamination systems that allow maximum standardization of decontamination capabilities (as a key for minimum response time) and scalability and versatility in response capabilities before the wide range of scenarios that a Hazmat incident can present.
The concern of the Armed Forces and Security and Emergency Corps for this aspect has led to the development of rapid deployment systems of increasingly sophisticated, versatile and broad CBRN decontamination range that allow the management of a wide range of Hazmat incidents at a time Minimum response
The meeting was a complete success, and the objectives set were fully fulfilled by creating this forum for mutual knowledge between the Armed Forces and the Defense Industry of the United Arab Emirates and Spain.
The participation of the Spanish companies selected is another sample “… of the strong international vocation of the Spanish Defense Industry” as highlighted by General Luis López, Head of OFICAEX. That also encouraged companies in both countries to seek synergies and opportunities for collaboration to meet the challenges of a global and increasingly competitive market that demands value creation through innovation and the development of new technologies.
