Insights from India and UAE
Impressions from the Aero-India Bengaluru and IDEX Abu Dhabi
Welcome to today’s special edition of Beyond Line of Sight!
Last two weeks have been fascinating. I attended Aero-India 2025 in Bengaluru followed by IDEX 2025 in Abu Dhabi. These shows are the beating pulse of what the Indian and Middle Eastern aerospace and defence industries look like.
There is a lot to be said about the companies and the technologies at these events, but I’ll make three key points, which matter more than any individual company or technology.
#1 Drones, drones everywhere
Drones, UXVs, autonomous systems. These are part of almost major company’s product portfolios. Not only this, but their portfolios are also growing.
Today, almost all aerospace and defence (A&D) companies have a drone and UXV portfolio. Drones are no longer a nice-to-have, they are a necessity.
However, the design, performance, and capabilities provided by of the products is often very similar, so drones are quickly becoming a commodity.
For drone manufacturers, differentiation will increasingly need to come from offering and delivering value add. Companies are starting to offer comprehensive training, after-sales support, and looking to deliver ecosystems rather than just the vehicles.
#2 Ecosystems are flourishing
Both India and UAE have flourishing ecosystems supporting aerospace and defence innovation and manufacturing.
India’s iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) programme launched in 2018 to support innovation. A large majority of the innovations displayed were in or around drones, UXVs, and autonomous systems.
Abu Dhabi based conglomerate, EDGE Group, featured heavily. Since its launch in 2019, it is now an integral part of UAE’s defence industry. EDGE Group showcased everything from FPV kamikaze cardboard drones to CCA (Collaborative Combat Aircraft).
Both countries are focusing on a homegrown development, innovation, and manufacturing capability base and are investing heavily in these. The ecosystems being built provide a great springboard.
In Bengaluru, I visited Flying Wedge A&D’s offices in Electronic City and saw the capabilities and ways of working. It is impressive to see the engineering, prototyping, and scaled manufacturing capabilities all under one roof in Electronic City, allowing for rapid iterative development possible and economical. There are also others (for example, T-Hub in Hyderabad) around the country that are very well funded and well supported.
#3 Ambitions to scale up and export
Both India and UAE’s flourishing ecosystems are backed by an established and growing manufacturing base in aerospace and defence. There is also a huge amount of investment going into the sector within UAE (example below).
Many drone manufacturers I spoke to, especially those in India, are leveraging the existing manufacturing base and labour availability to scale with ambitions of exporting to SE Asian, African, and Western markets. They are very cost-competitive compared to their Western counterparts.
The perception sometimes tends to be (anecdotally) that non-Western technology is not up to par isn’t necessarily true and is often subjective.
Some interesting tidbits
For the first time ever, both the F-35 and the Su-57 were present at an airshow at once and flew. Both U.S. and Russia have been trying to sell their 5th gen fighters to India.
Cheap kamikaze FPV drones are becoming an attractive option, with DesertDart (developed by UAE’s EDGE Group) and Kharga (developed by the Indian Army). Both cost only a few hundred USD.
Russia showcasing the T-90MS tank with drone protection mesh.
Interestingly, there were not (m)any companies showcasing fibre optic drones for kamikaze FPV drones — something I expected given how much their uptake has been due to the Ukraine-Russia war.
Indian and UK Governments launched a Defence Partnership-India (DP-I) to collaborate on next-gen weapons and set up a missile facility in Hyderabad.
Until next week,
Adit
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Adit Shah is a UK-based business and strategy consultant specialising in aerospace, defence, and space sectors. If you are interested in Adit’s expertise, please get in touch via LinkedIn.