RIYADH: UAE’s Tawazun Council signed 9 deals with local and foreign companies worth 5.7 billion dirhams ($1.5 billion) on behalf of the country’s Defense Ministry on Wednesday — the third day of the International Defense and Naval Defense exhibitions currently underway in Abu Dhabi. The council also signed two deals worth 134 million dirhams on behalf of the Abu Dhabi Police. With the signing of these 11 deals, the number of agreements signed across the ongoing defense expo reached 34 worth 18.4 billion dirhams, according to the council"s spokesmen Majed Ahmed Al-Jaberi and Zayed Saeed Al-Meraikhi. Al-Meraikhi told a press conference that the council signed 9 contracts on behalf of the Defense Ministry. Out of the total, he added, five deals were signed with international firms. The biggest contract worth 4 billion dirhams was awarded to Earth, a subsidiary of Edge Group to develop a tactical data link network. Another contract, worth 1 billion dirhams, was signed with Edge Group’s subsidiary Halcon to procure the Al Tariq system. A contract worth 28 million dirhams was signed with International Diving Trade to provide technical support to the boat workshop. The council signed a 27 million dirham contract with International Golden Group to procure scanning and monitoring devices. Tawazun Council manages the contractual, legal, and financial aspects of procurement and the management of programs from rollout to completion. The international contracts announced on Wednesday included two with France’s Thales, one is worth 176 million dirhams to provide technical support for the GM-200 radars and the other is a 6 million dirhams contract to provide technical support and training on CMS. The other two contracts included a 407 million dirhams deal with the French company Naval Group, to procure anti-torpedoes’ CANTO systems and mu-90 torpedoes. The UAE’s body signed a 68 million dirhams contract with a US-based company Kaman to procure a proximity fuze and also finalized a contract worth 37 million dirhams with Frequentis AG of Austria to develop an operation center. Al-Jaberi detailed the two 134 million dirhams deals signed on behalf of Abu Dhabi Police, which included a contract worth 62 million dirhams with Leonardo of Italy to procure an AW139 Helicopter and a 72 million dirhams contract with Nimr, a subsidiary of Edge Group, to procure Ajban vehicle 4X4.