Agnes Helou is Breaking Defense's Middle East Bureau Chief, with close to a decade of experience in covering regional defense and strategic topics. She was the managing Editor of Security and Defense Arabia, an Arabic language defense website and magazine, and covered the Middle East and North Africa defense and security topics for Defense News for three years. Her reporting expertise covers the Gulf, North Africa, Middle East and Southern Europe.
Agnes has a master’s degree and is pursuing her PhD in media economics from the Doctoral School of Literature, Humanities & Social Sciences in Lebanon. Her interests include artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, air defense, maritime and border security regional strategic issues.
At the Saudi defense show, Boeing defense president Ted Colbert spoke to Breaking Defense about potential future deals in the region — from interest in upgraded F-15s to Apaches and T-7 trainers — while navigating new Saudi production mandates.
“Whether it’s a vehicle land vehicle, a futuristic UAV that is a concept, some C4I systems, C2 systems, smaller versions of UAVs, converting a manned boat to unmanned boat — we’ve done it, it’s us. The shift is already happening,” Saudi Arabian Military Industries CEO Walid Abukhaled told Breaking Defense.
“There are currently only two production lines for these products: the original production line in the US, and now an additional source of supply here in the Kingdom,” Lockheed Martin’s vice president and general manager of Integrated Air and Missile Defense, Jason Reynolds told Breaking Defense.
“What was different about this attack is where it landed: It did impact… where living quarters are,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, a day after three soldiers were killed in an attack.
The Asian giant had more than 50 entities present at UMEX 2024, according to organizers, compared to less than two dozen from the US and just a few from Russia.
At UMEX 2024 in Abu Dhabi, EDGE announced a number of deals and business moves, and in an interview its chairman promised further expansion as the company plays a “disruptive flavor of player.”
“The USV will be operational in two months time, after final modifications, where it will join the first Arabian Fox in Bahrain,” a NAVCENT official told Breaking Defense.
“Our naval strength is increasing with our ships. I wholeheartedly believe that we will achieve new successes in the coming period,” said Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan today.
Lt. Luis Echeverria, the newly appointed commander of Task Group 59.1, spoke with Breaking Defense about the group’s role in integrating maritime drones into real-world operations.
“It is the first time a Turkish drone maker is certifying a foreign munitions or smart solutions to be integrated on its platforms,” analyst Can Kasapoglu told Breaking Defense.
“Seized items include propulsion, guidance, and warheads for Houthi medium range ballistic missiles (MRBMs) and anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs), as well as air defense associated components. Initial analysis indicates these same weapons have been employed by the Houthis to threaten and attack innocent mariners on international merchant ships transiting in the Red Sea,” according to a CENTCOM statement.
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI presented integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
At AUSA Global Force 2024, IAI presented integrated, AI-driven combat systems – both manned and unmanned – that are opening new opportunities on the battlefield.
