Four Years on: The View from a British-Emirati Joint Venture

When Houbara began operations in 2018, we were at that time, and remain, the only UAE-UK defence industry Joint Venture; a unique label we continue to be proud of as we play our small part in supporting UAE-UK defence industrial cooperation.   As we look back on four years in the UAE, such a short period of time has seen much change not only within the company, but also the industry in which we operate.

New Markets

Houbara’s incorporation came at a time of international expansion for our UK parent company, QinetiQ.  The ambition to establish a new ‘home market’ in the UAE was aimed at investing in the rapidly developing defence sector to service the growing need for ‘threat representation’ services and promoting the use of British Engineering and world-renowned products like the BANSHEE Unmanned Aerial Target system - increasing the realism of and promoting interoperability of Emirati-British air defence training.  Secondly, it was to help remove market access barriers and localise other British science and engineering expertise in the UAE to support a host of advanced initiatives including test and evaluation to research and development activities.

Start Up

UAE Commercial laws in 2018 required a majority Emirati partner and fully ‘landed’ companies in the defence sphere were by exception. A strong local partner was fortunately found in Middle East General Enterprises, our majority Emirati parent company who wished to expand their already diverse portfolio into the defence sector. MGE’s market access and knowledge would help pave the way for developing QinetiQ’s core offerings in country, so naturally all stakeholders gravitated toward a joint venture model, with joint Emirati and British Investment and steered by an equally representative Board of Directors. 

As is the story with many start-ups, the formation of Houbara was a case of two men (and unfortunately no Dog).   Four years on, the two men are now joined by a diverse workforce of thirty engineers, technicians, and other professionals, hailing from ten different countries and based at two sites in Abu Dhabi - working to support multiple customer bases across defence and industry.  

Our UAV MRO centre at Tawazun Industrial Park (TIP) which services our Unmanned Target Systems has seen the most development; evolving from a four-man tent (with no air conditioning) to a first-rate engineering support facility.  The facility is core to our In-Country-Value plan to localise the IP and production of QinetiQ’s range of unmanned target systems in the UAE, developing and sustaining the next generation of unmanned systems engineers in addition to our current team, who in early 2022, passed the significant milestone of launching our 400th UAV flight.  Unfortunately, we still don’t have a dog. 

Industry Changes

The last four years have seen sizable changes to the UAE’s Defence sector, with consolidation of industry around technology priorities, the rise of UAE defence champions EDGE Group, a revamp of procurement practices and offset obligations under the responsibility of Tawazun Economic Council, as well as multiple new research and development bodies supporting the sector in line with the UAE Governments vision for the next fifty years.  Our own approach to market has had to evolve with these changes, maintaining our core products and service offering but also delivering on our founding mission of establishing collaborative relationships with industry and front-line commands to promote UK expertise in answering some of the UAE’s most pressing scientific and engineering challenges.

UAE-UK Defence Relationship

An open approach to industrial collaboration is often a firm foundation upon which to further defence relationships, and happily numerous G2G agreements exist between the UK and UAE as testament to this. Whilst the UK and UAE have historically shared a close relationship, perceptible changes for the better have been felt over the last few years, the cumulative effect of which have supported British businesses on the ground.  

Defence cooperation such as the UAE and UK’s involvement in programmes such as the Air Force’s Advanced Tactical Leadership Course, cooperation with multiple Front-Line Commands and further increasing joint exercises and exchange opportunities, continually sets a tone of collaboration and partnership which underpins industrial collaboration. This approach was re-affirmed during His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s visit to the UK in September 2021, on the occasion of another strong UAE-UK tradition, as he watched his son pass out of training from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. During the visit, both the UAE and UK agreed to enhance defence industrial collaboration amongst many other sectors which led to a ‘call to UK industry’ and a concerted effort to engage UK Defence primes via the UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE) to support collaborative development of key UAE technologies such as artificial intelligence and autonomous systems.  Many of these projects will take several years to mature but reinforce the enduring defence relationship the UK has with the UAE – moving beyond the transactional to genuine collaborative partnerships, via companies such as Houbara, for vesting IP and long-term expertise in the UAE.

Our own longstanding involvement with the British Business Group (as was), and the now British Chamber of Commerce Abu Dhabi, has certainly helped shape our involvement in the bilateral relationship with our CEO, Tim Allen, also leading the BCC’s Defence & Security Focus Group.

The Future

So, what’s next for this UAE-UK joint venture? Our industry is particularly influenced by the shifting geo-political environment and the needs thereof.  Regardless of whether we’re supporting realistic air defence training to help the UAE defeat the threat of hostile UAV’s, or positioning British engineering and scientific expertise to co-develop advanced products and services, companies such as Houbara are a measure of the value the UAE and UK attach to industrial collaboration which, in everyone’s earnest hopes, will continue to grow.