Abu Dhabi: EDGE, a global leader in advanced technology and defense, has launched the ‘X RANGE,’ the first international defense, aerospace, and commercial products testing, evaluation, and training ground facility in the GCC region.
The range will provide exclusive, end-to-end, and state-of-the-art testing services and facilities for platforms, systems, and subsystems across the air, land, sea, and electronic warfare (EW) domains.
The X RANGE, which was unveiled on the opening day of the Dubai Airshow 2023, will offer modular advanced testing capabilities with the best mobile equipment and instrumentation, providing detailed data and analysis to accelerate the development of infantry weapons, smart weapons, autonomous systems, naval vessels, C4I systems, ISTAR systems, and EW solutions. It will be made available for commercial use by third-party clients in the near future.
Mr. Mansour Al Mulla, Managing Director, and CEO of EDGE Group, remarked that, “The X RANGE testing range will bring sophisticated, flexible, and comprehensive testing capabilities to the heart of the Middle East, Africa, and Central and South Asia region. This ground-breaking launch comes after relentless preparation and pursuit of the latest defense and range technologies. In line with the EDGE growth strategy, X RANGE is a testament to our commitment toward advancing defense and security capabilities, both globally and locally, acting as a strategic asset for the future of security in the region.”
Located on a highly secure 350km2 island, the range will include a 3,800m runway for large aircraft and a 1,200m runway for unmanned aircraft with an air danger area permanently closed to 10,000ft with availability to extend significantly higher.
In addition, the island will be equipped with an urban training village for special operations rehearsals, an island-wide digital communications network, and a dedicated shoreline for marine and landing exercises.
Conventional land and air munitions, EW energy weapons, and signal jammers can be tested with high-precision video, high-level telemetry, and data acquisition systems. Advanced hemispheric tracking radars and a variety of asset monitoring and tracking tools will support them. Passive radio frequency monitoring creates a known RF environment to facilitate scientific EW product testing.
X RANGE will soon be equipped to handle unmanned aircraft performance and missile flight guidance tests. The range will offer helicopter fire testing, environmental stress tests for land vehicles, environmental testing facilities, complex situation testing for maritime platforms, and surface platform performance analysis, including ranging and magnetic signatures. Soon, navigation, targeting, and communication evaluation, as well as functioning tests in various scenarios, will be accessible.