Following the news that Abu Dhabi based Strata Manufacturing has started to produce N95 masks;

Mathew George, Aerospace & Defense Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Strata’s collaboration with Honeywell to produce N95 masks is a first in the Persian Gulf and is expected to have an annual capacity of over 30 million masks. While N95 masks aren’t new for Honeywell, it is a new development for a company whose regular customers are aerospace firms such as Airbus, Boeing, Leonardo, Pilatus and SAAB. However, we have to take this in the context of similar developments seen around the world with aerospace and defense companies reworking their production lines or developing equipment to support the needs of the local healthcare establishment.

“Other cases include the DRDO and HAL in India, and Babcock in the UK announcing recently the final testing stages of its Zephyr Plus ventilator. Aerospace and defense companies inherently allow for social distancing in their production lines and need to follow high levels of safety and cleanliness to ensure their precision instruments and products can perform at the levels expected in daily use.

“Whether some or all of the companies will continue to produce these considering the world is moving to a ‘new normal’ of social distancing and increased levels of personal hygiene is something to be seen. But for the UAE, it would make sense for this to continue to ensure a reliable, diversified supply chain of essential medical equipment.”