The UAE government signed Dh7.6 billion ($2 billion) in contracts on day one of the air show, with a notable contract going to Dassault Aviation for the Mirage 2000 upgrade programme.
The UAE government signed Dh7.6 billion ($2 billion) in contracts on day one of the air show, with a notable contract going to Dassault Aviation for the Mirage 2000 upgrade programme.
The contracts were spread among 11 companies for suppliers such as aircraft support, training, simulation, and spare parts. An air force spokesman gave the amounts and counterparties for the contracts during a brief media announcement, but provided no further details.
FlightGlobal
The largest contract went to Global Aerospace Logistics, a unit of local defence conglomerate Edge. It signed a support deal worth Dh3.5 billion related to the country’s Joint Aviation Command, which operates the UAE’s fleet of helicopters and fixed-wing transports.
The other notable contract went to Dassault, a Dh1.8 billion contract covering “enhancements” to Abu Dhabi’s fleet of Mirage 2000s.
The upgrade plan was first disclosed in 2017, with no details of the work involved.
Neither Dassault nor the country’s defence ministry replied to FlightGlobal’s request for comment on the contract. Cirium fleets data indicates that the UAE has 57 Mirage 2000s in service and eight in storage. The average age of the fleet is 22.8 years.
