Photos: UAE defence show IDEX kicks off in Abu Dhabi

The five-day event is expected to welcome over 100,000 visitors, regionally and globally over the course of the exhibition.

The International Defence Exhibition (Idex), which is one of the leading shows in the industry, kicked-off in Abu Dhabi on February 17 with military demonstrations and air shows by the UAE armed forces.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces attended the inauguration ceremony, where they received political and military leaders from various nations participating in Idex.
The event at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibion Centre (Adnec) started with performances by officers from the UAE military, police bands and Emirati traditional songs and dances. 
This was followed by a fantastic air show and military demonstrations, including; attack helicopters performing in a combat scenario demonstration, heavy mock firefighters performing in a combat scenario and UAE jets conducting 'airstrike' in combat demonstration.

#Mohamed_bin_Zayed: My brother #Mohammed_bin_Rashid, Crown Princes, leaders and representatives of countries witnessed the launch of the 14th edition of #IDEX2019, which brings together pioneers as well as major defence & military companies to showcase their innovations#wamnews pic.twitter.com/Bz6gerGs5A
- WAM News / English (@WAMNEWS_ENG) February 17, 2019

The Idex 2019, and the Naval Defence and Maritime Security Exhibition (Navdex) 2019 will run until February 21. Celebrating its Silver Jubilee this year, Idex and Navdex 2019 is set to become the largest since IDEX's inception in 1993 with representatives from 62 countries attending, exhibiting or holding demonstrations.
The five-day event is expected to welcome over 100,000 visitors, regionally and globally over the course of the exhibition.
1,310 companies from defence, security, transport, telecommunication, aviation and other military fields are taking part in the exhibition.
UAE is the largest exhibitor at this year's Idex with 170 companies from the defence and its supporting sector, followed by USA, France, Germany, Italy and Saudi Arabia. The largest exhibitor from the UAE is the Emirates Defence Industries Company, EDIC, a joint venture between Mubadala Development and Tawazun Holding.

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Among EDIC's latest military equipment on show is the NIMR (AJBAN 447A), a multi-role armoured vehicle is designed for use in a wide range of specialist military roles, offering high levels of survivability, mobility and firepower.
The 447A, which was launched at Idex on Sunday, is a forward-facing seven crew military tactical vehicle featuring a highly configurable armoured cabin designed for by different units such as tactical response, border patrol, reconnaissance, counter-insurgency and special forces teams.  
"The vehicle offers a modular design, featuring scalable levels of ballistic, mine blast and IED protection based on a conventional powertrain layout," said an official from EDIC.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi