UAE-France Rafale Deal Deepens State War Industry

The United Arab Emirates and France signed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation around the Dassault Rafale F5 standard during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Abu Dhabi, deepening a state-led defence partnership as geopolitical uncertainty grows amid the Iran war. The agreement sets out cooperation on combat aviation, industry and strategic autonomy, while reducing dependence on third countries.

Building the military apparatus

The agreement sits alongside plans to cooperate on the future of combat aviation and a separate agreement between the French Defence Ministry and the UAE. That deal aims to improve interoperability between their armed forces, strengthen industrial resilience and advance work on future-oriented technology, including artificial intelligence and space. The partnership links armed forces to the industries and technologies that supply them.

The UAE wants to localise defence manufacturing through Edge Group, a conglomerate with more than 35 companies. Established in 2019, Edge develops advanced technology for weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare. It played a key role in countering Iranian drones directed at the UAE during the war. Macron visited an Edge industrial site, where the French and Emirati defence relationship appeared not just as diplomacy, but as industrial policy.

Edge has several industrial partnerships with French companies and recently signed a cooperation agreement with the French Defence Procurement Agency. The Elysee Palace said Macron’s visit “reflects a shared commitment to strengthening industrial and technological co-operation and developing joint projects”. That statement gives the partnership’s official pitch; the agreements specify the armed forces, weapons systems and industrial capacity being brought closer together.

Abu Dhabi is preparing to host the International Defence Exhibition and Conference, or Idex, in January. Hundreds of defence companies from around the world are expected to display high-tech weapons there. Governments call this resilience and autonomy. The work involves cooperation among states, military institutions and companies developing and displaying military technology.

Security ties and commercial deals

France helped protect the UAE and Bahrain, among the Gulf countries, with air-defence and anti-drone assets during Iranian attacks this year. France also worked closely with Bahrain at the UN Security Council to seek a diplomatic solution to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. After Abu Dhabi, Macron travelled to Bahrain. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and Bahrain’s counterpart, Abdullatif Al Zayani, agreed to strengthen cooperation on the “peaceful uses of nuclear energy”, the French government said. France and Bahrain signed a defence cooperation agreement in February during a visit to Paris by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa.

The Abu Dhabi visit also produced preliminary agreements on energy, artificial intelligence and advanced technology. France’s AI start-up AMI Labs signed three agreements with Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), Abu Dhabi’s G42 and computing company Analog. MBZUAI will focus on AI research and development with AMI Labs; G42 aims to establish a framework for strategic cooperation on cloud-computing infrastructure and AI models; Analog and AMI Labs will explore integrating AI models into robotics and physical AI applications.

In energy, Adnoc Gas and Schneider Electric signed an initial pact to assess technologies and identify ways to improve operational efficiency and energy-system performance. Adnoc Refining and Technip Energies signed two contracts covering a refining-capacity enhancement project and a sustainable aviation-fuel project. At the UAE-France Business Dialogue, Sheikh Khaled said cooperation was essential “for ensuring reliable energy supplies and building resilience supply chains amid changes in the global economy.”

More than 600 French businesses operate in the UAE, and France exports $4 billion worth of goods annually to the UAE, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website. UAE investment in France is also growing. In 2021, UAE-based Gulf Islamic Investments invested $301 million in Altais Towers, while Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company signed an initial agreement with Bpifrance, committing to invest €1 billion ($1.12 billion) in the LAC1 Fund, a €10 billion fund managed by Bpifrance. Defence, technology, energy and finance now sit within an expanding state-to-state and corporate framework.