The Qatar Armed Forces and Qatari defence and security companies inked several contracts and memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with international companies, research centres and universities, on Tuesday.

The deals and MoUs were signed on the second day of the eighth Doha International Maritime Defense Exhibition and Conference (DIMDEX 2024), being held under the theme ‘Lgniting the future of maritime security and beyond’. They cover a variety of areas including the supply of ammunition, the transfer of defence technology, the development of unmanned surface vehicles and mechanisms, the provision of spare parts and maintenance, information and communications, and the establishment of research laboratories, among others.

The Qatar Armed Forces also sealed several deals including a contract to provide spare parts and services, develop the calibration centre, and maintain visual surveillance systems, and an MoU to operate and maintain aircraft engines.

Meanwhile, the Qatari Amiri Naval Forces signed a contract to implement the fast attack craft project (Halul 11), and an MoU on the multi-purpose corvette project (HALUL10) at a time when the Amiri Maintenance Corps inked a contract to develop fab mechanisms level 2.

The Qatari Amiri Signal and Information Technology Corps sealed three contracts to connect the military security sites to the Armed Forces optical fibre network, establish a cellular network specific to the Qatar Armed Forces, and launch a research lab for quantum computing, information and communication security and artificial intelligence, as well as the national encryption initiative.

Barood Ammunition Factory signed a contract for the supply of ammunition, calibres and their components, and the transfer of defence technology. Barzan Holdings for its part signed a contract to supply ammunition to the Indonesian forces and another to develop unmanned surface vehicles as well as an MoU to develop fab mechanisms level 2 in addition to two contracts for the implementation of the electronic warfare technology and the Laser Guidance Kits (LGK).

Commander of the Qatari Amiri Naval Forces HE Staff Maj Gen(Navy) Abdullah Hassan Al Sulaiti revealed that the first phase of the MoU on the multi-purpose corvette project (towing, hauling, firefighting, rescue, and other services at sea) includes the delivery of two corvettes to be followed by another three and an unmanned vessel. The Halul 11 contract includes the delivery of approximately 45m fast attack craft to be suitable for Qatar’s territorial waters, he said.

Hailing the deals as a strong addition to both the naval forces and the civil monitoring and rescue vessels, His Excellency said they also include theoretical and practical training across the processes of manufacturing, delivery and a certain period of operation.

He added that Qatar has achieved great strides in defence and ammunition manufacturing.