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United Arab Emirates state-owned defence conglomerate EDGE Group has announced the launch of “X Range”, the first international defence, aerospace and commercial products testing, evaluation and training ground facility in the Gulf Cooperation Council region.
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The international, multidomain testing and evaluation facility for defence, aerospace and commercial products, training ground for law enforcement and defence organisations will provide exclusive, end-to-end, and state-of-the-art testing services and facilities for platforms, systems and subsystems across the air, land, sea, and electronic warfare domains.
The highly secure 350-square-kilometre island features a 3,800-metre runway for large aircraft, a 1,200-metre runway for unmanned aircraft and an air danger area permanently closed to 10,000 feet, with availability to extend significantly higher. It will also be equipped with an urban training village for special operations rehearsals, an island-wide digital communications network, and a dedicated shoreline for marine and landing exercises.
The new X Range was announced on the first day of Dubai Airshow 2023 and is expected to accelerate the development of infantry weapons, smart weapons, autonomous systems, naval vessels, C4I systems, ISTAR systems and EW solutions. It will also be made available for commercial use by third-party clients in the near future.
“The X RANGE testing range will bring sophisticated, flexible and comprehensive testing capabilities to the heart of the Middle East, Africa, and central and south Asia region,” according to EDGE Group managing director and chief executive officer Mansour Al Mulla.
“This ground-breaking launch comes after relentless preparation and pursuit of the latest defence and range technologies.
“In line with the EDGE growth strategy, X RANGE is a testament to our commitment toward the advancement of defence and security capabilities, both globally and locally, acting as a strategic asset for the future of security in the region.”
The GCC region brings together Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Conventional land and air munitions, as well as EW energy weapons and signal jammers, can be tested with high-precision video, high-level telemetry and data acquisition systems. These will be aided by multiple asset surveillance and tracking instruments and advanced hemispheric tracking radars. Passive radio frequency monitoring creates a known RF environment that will facilitate scientific testing of EW products.
The range will offer helicopter fire testing, environmental stress tests for land vehicles, environmental testing facilities, complex situation testing for maritime platforms, and surface platform performance analysis, including ranging and magnetic signatures.
It will also have capability for navigation, targeting and communicating evaluation, and be equipped to handle unmanned aircraft performance and missile flight guidance tests.
“As we realise our goal of becoming the first defence testing range in the MENA region, we are ensuring that our local and global customers can access the most cutting-edge testing solutions in the market, accessible right here in the UAE,” said EDGE Group president of trading and mission support Omar Al Zaabi.
“We are immensely proud to debut the X RANGE, which will enable our customers and partners to expand their reach to new heights and depths across multiple combat environments.”
The range will have a dedicated shoreline for amphibious landing training and exercises, directed-energy weapons testing, GPS spoofing and signal jamming testing, floating dock with a crew cabin and control cabin, and robotic moving targets for direct fire support weapons testing.
