Dubai Airshow 2025: Calidus unveils counter-UAV system

The Damita SPAAG with the Skyranger 35 turret displayed by Calidus. (Janes/Raghuraman C S)

Emirati company Calidus displayed its Damita short-range air-defence system for the first time at the Dubai Airshow held from 15 to 19 November.

The Damita brochure described it as “the world's first AI-based integrated counter-drone solution employing multisensor fusion technology for real-time detection, classification, and interception”.

It includes a 35 mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun (SPAAG) mounted on the company's LIFV 8×8 armoured vehicle and a shorter-range remotely operated weapon station (ROWS) with 30 mm and 7.62 mm guns and an anti-tank guided missile also mounted on an LIFV, as well as a laser and soft-kill effectors for countering unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The full-scale Damita SPAAG that was displayed at the Dubai Airshow was fitted with Rheinmetall's Skyranger 35 (SR35) turret. This collaboration was effectively acknowledged in the brochure, although it did not credit Rheinmetall. The turret was identified as the CLS-SR35 and noted that it can use Ahead programmable airburst ammunition, another Rhienmetall product.

The LIFV with the 30 mm ROWS was not displayed at the airshow, but the brochure identified it as the R800, which is made by the Australian company Electro Optic Systems (EOS).

The laser system displayed at the airshow was labelled a joint EOS-Calidus product and looked identical to the Apollo system that was unveiled by the former at the DSEI show in London in September. Calidus said its laser can generate 50–150 kW, the same output that EOS announced for the Apollo, which has already been ordered by an unnamed NATO country.