Facing an escalating barrage of Iranian missiles and drones, the UAE is turning to Israel for some of the world’s most advanced air-defense technology.

By Hezy Laing 

Israel is engaged in advanced negotiations to sell the United Arab Emirates an expanded package of its premier air-defense systems, as escalating Iranian missile and drone attacks drive growing Gulf demand for Israeli defense technology.

The talks involve Israel’s Ministry of Defense, senior representatives of the UAE Armed Forces, and executives from Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), which manufactures the Barak-8 and Barak-MX ER interceptor systems.

At the center of the negotiations is the Barak-MX ER family, which was upgraded in 2024 and 2025 by IAI’s Systems, Missiles and Space Group under CEO Boaz Levy.

The system now offers interception ranges of 35 kilometers, 70 kilometers and up to 150 kilometers, along with improved capabilities against hypersonic glide vehicles, aircraft, cruise missiles, UAV swarms and certain classes of ballistic threats.

For Abu Dhabi, the need for more advanced air defenses has become increasingly urgent.

The UAE had already begun strengthening its layered air-defense network following repeated Houthi missile and drone attacks between 2018 and 2022. Among the most serious was the January 17, 2022 attack on Abu Dhabi, which killed three civilians and damaged fuel infrastructure.

But the threat facing the Emirates changed dramatically in 2024 and 2025 as Iran itself became directly involved.

In March 2025, the IRGC launched six ballistic missiles and 14 UAVs at Jebel Ali Port and Al Dhafra Air Base. UAE air defenses, working alongside U.S. CENTCOM, intercepted most of the incoming threats, but one missile struck near a logistics facility, injuring two people.

It marked the first direct Iranian attack on Emirati soil and accelerated Gulf interest in Israeli systems designed to counter precisely such threats.

The confrontation has only intensified since then.

Throughout 2025 and into 2026, Houthi and IRGC Navy drone and anti-ship missile attacks continued against Gulf shipping lanes as part of the broader conflict in the Red Sea.

In August 2026, Iran fired missiles at Emirati targets and attacked Adnoc-owned ships in the Strait of Hormuz. At least a dozen people have been killed and more than 200 injured in the Emirates since the war began, prompting the UAE to sever trade and financial ties with Tehran.

The attacks have spread beyond the UAE.

On August 1, Kuwaiti air defenses intercepted Iranian drones targeting a government building in northern Kuwait and a facility on Bubiyan Island. Later that month, Iran attacked Saudi-owned tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, including the Sidr, killing two Filipino seafarers.

Between February and June 2026 alone, 68 incidents were confirmed in the Gulf, with attacks recorded off the coasts of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Iraq and Iran.

Against that backdrop, Emirati officials increasingly view Israeli air-defense systems as battle-proven technology specifically suited to confronting Iranian-made missiles and drones, giving the current negotiations both strategic and political significance.

The UAE has been evaluating Israeli defense systems since the signing of the Abraham Accords on September 15, 2020. Those evaluations have included Rafael’s Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems, as well as IAI’s Arrow-2.

Arrow-3 remains subject to U.S. export restrictions, although discussions over possible co-development resumed in late 2025.

The current negotiations go considerably further than simply purchasing interceptors.

The talks include live-fire operational demonstrations in Israel’s Negev, studies on integrating Israeli systems with the UAE’s existing Patriot PAC-3 MSE and THAAD batteries, joint command-and-control links through the U.S.-led Integrated Air and Missile Defense network, and discussions over AI-based threat cueing.

Israeli officials have traveled to Abu Dhabi and Dubai four times during 2025 and 2026 as part of a broader regional defense dialogue that now includes Bahrain, Morocco and Saudi Arabia under the expanded Abraham Accords security framework.

If finalized in the fourth quarter of 2026, the UAE deal could be worth between $700 million and $1.1 billion, depending on the number of Barak-MX ER batteries, LRAD interceptors, and five-year support and training packages included.

Such an agreement would represent the latest step in a dramatic expansion of Israeli defense ties with Arab countries since the Abraham Accords.

Morocco took delivery of Barak-MX systems in 2023 under a deal worth approximately $500 million, alongside UAVs from BlueBird Aero Systems and electronic-warfare suites from Elbit Systems.

The UAE signed a 2023 agreement with Rafael covering cyber defense and counter-UAV lasers, and in 2025 expanded cooperation on intelligence sharing and UAV development following the March Iranian attack.

Bahrain operationalized Israeli cyber and radar systems at NSA Bahrain in 2024, while Saudi Arabia entered indirect procurement talks for Israeli counter-drone systems through U.S. integrators in 2025.

The growing regional cooperation is reflected in Israel’s booming defense exports.

According to SIBAT, Israel’s defense exports reached a record $14.8 billion in 2024, with roughly 30% going to Middle Eastern and Abraham Accords customers.

The figures underscore a remarkable transformation in regional defense relations: Israeli weapons and technology, once effectively absent from Arab militaries, are increasingly becoming part of the Gulf’s defenses against a shared Iranian threat.