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.
“We have seen a lot of interest in military trainers… since every country in the region is looking to modernize their military trainers,” Bell’s Patrick Moulay told Breaking Defense.
“Turkish air power has a stopgap trouble up until the indigenous KAAN makes it,” analyst Can Kasapoglu told Breaking Defense. “The [Eurofighter] can offer some relief, depending on the tranche.”
“Having high quality local capabilities supported by the OEM [original equipment manufacturer], will help reduce lead times significantly and translate into better service and availability for the UAE,” a Sikorksy official said.
Calidus CEO Khalifa Alblooshi told Breaking Defense in an exclusive interview the company hopes to start delivering the turboprop aircraft in mid-2026.
An MBDA official here tells Breaking Defense how the company sees the missiles swarming into combat, and how MBDA is eyeing a new subsidiary in the UAE.
Walid Abukhaled, CEO of Saudi Arabia Military Industries, told Breaking Defense the conglomerate is “investing in developing our own products across all domains, but the key ones now are really AI and command and control systems.”
“We’re always looking at making investments in autonomous capabilities, precision guided munitions and electronic warfare,” Miles Chambers, Edge Group vice president of international business, told Breaking Defense.
“Boeing customers around the world are moving to Performance Based Logistics solutions because PBL has the potential to lower flying hour costs, increase aircraft availability, and maximize the use of local industry,” company exec Rick Lemaster told Breaking Defense.
A nearly $3 billion deal for 18 MQ-9B SkyGuardians was put on hold by the Biden administration, linked to concerns over the Gulf nation’s embrace of Chinese wireless tech.
Russia so-far appears to have a muted appearance, Ukraine none at all, but American and Chinese companies will be out in force for this year’s Dubai Airshow.
“He does not want escalation, and the skirmishes on [Lebanon’s] southern borders are strictly kept in a zone where Israel can bear them,” retired Lebanese armed forces Gen. Wehbe Katicha told Breaking Defense.
“During Digital Talon, we took a significant step forward and advanced our capability to the ‘next level’ beyond just maritime domain awareness…,” said NAVCENT Commander Vice Adm. Brad Cooper.
As anger in the Arab world grows, analysts said Abu Dhabi is looking further into the future and at the economic and defense benefits of the 2020 deal.
The US has made no secret it holds Iran responsible for the actions of its regional proxies, but experts told Breaking Defense Tehran’s level of control can vary from group to group.
With programs like MTC, Millennium Space Systems is redefining what it means to be an operational prime – rapidly delivering operational small sat constellations on rapid timelines.
With programs like MTC, Millennium Space Systems is redefining what it means to be an operational prime – rapidly delivering operational small sat constellations on rapid timelines.
High-performance systems generate tremendous amounts of heat that can compromise missions and make high-tech systems less effective in tactical environments. But there is a solution to this modern-age challenge.
High-performance systems generate tremendous amounts of heat that can compromise missions and make high-tech systems less effective in tactical environments. But there is a solution to this modern-age challenge.
