Russia angles for drone-making partners in the Middle East

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Russian defense exports agency Rosoboronexport has said it wants to establish drone production facilities in the Middle Eastern region, including the UAE, as Moscow attempts to grab market share in a region it deems receptive to the idea.

State-owned Russian media agency TASS cited the export agency as saying it would make overtures to regional governments at the UMEX 2024 conference here, held here on Jan. 23-25, singling out the show’s host nation in particular.

“Company representatives will speak about broad capabilities in the field of industrial cooperation to localize drone production on the territory of the customer, hold joint work to create prospective samples with the use of Russian competences in their design,” TASS reported.

In the last two years, Russia’s military-industrial complex has been focused on supporting the invasion of Ukraine, which has now reached a standstill with roughly one-fifth of the country occupied, according to analysts. The rate of equipment consumed on the battlefield has left little for Moscow to export.

The Middle East recorded an increase in Russian arms purchases before the Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Since then, however, governments here seem to be leaning more towards Western weapons.

In the unmanned systems sector, the Gulf region has looked to a greater extent to Turkey as a key supplier. In July, Saudi Arabia placed an order for Akinci combat drones, which the Turkish manufacturer Baykar referred to as the “biggest sale” to date between the two nations. This contract brought the number of Gulf customers of Baykar drones to four, along with Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE.

On Jan 18. the Emirati defense conglomerate Edge Group also announced that it had integrated its guided bomb onto the Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drone.

It remains unclear which specific drones models Moscow wants to see made here.

“The ones that people want – the Lancet and most Orlans – are not available for export, and the ones that are available – KUB loitering munition and Orion – receive a lukewarm reception,” Sam Bendett, an analyst specializing in Russian military capabilities at the Center for Naval Analyses, said.

However, one candidate could be the Zala ISR done, he added, using the acronym for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.

Zala Aero Group, the manufacturer, is present at the drone show here, though the company does not have any aircraft on public display, a trend the vendor has continued from previous trade shows.

When asked about the prospect of Russian drone manufacturing in the Middle East, and whether any of their platforms may be included, a Zala representative said the company was unaware of these reports.

“It is the first time we are hearing about this,” the representative told Defense News.

Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo was a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.

阿联酋阿布扎比——俄罗斯国防出口公司表示，希望在中东地区（包括阿联酋）建立无人机生产设施，莫斯科试图在该地区抢占市场份额，因为它认为该地区对无人机生产持开放态度。

俄罗斯国家通讯社塔斯社援引出口促进机构的话说，该机构将在1月23日至25日在此举行的2024年国际出口贸易展览会（UMEX 2024）上向各地区政府示好，并特别提到了展会的东道国。

据塔斯社报道，“公司代表将介绍在工业合作领域广泛的能力，以便在客户境内实现无人机生产的本地化，并开展联合工作，利用俄罗斯的技术能力在其设计中创建有前景的样品。”

过去两年，俄罗斯军工联合体一直致力于支持入侵乌克兰的行动，分析人士称，目前入侵已陷入僵局，约五分之一的乌克兰领土被占领。战场上装备的消耗速度之快，使得莫斯科几乎没有剩余的物资可以出口。

在莫斯科入侵乌克兰之前，中东地区从俄罗斯购买的武器数量有所增加。但自那以后，这些地区的政府似乎更倾向于购买西方武器。

在无人系统领域，海湾地区越来越依赖土耳其作为关键供应商。今年7月，沙特阿拉伯订购了Akinci作战无人机，土耳其制造商Baykar称这是两国迄今为止“最大的一笔交易”。这份合同使Baykar无人机的海湾客户数量增至四个，其他客户包括卡塔尔、科威特和阿联酋。

1月18日，阿联酋国防集团Edge Group也宣布，已将其制导炸弹集成到土耳其Bayraktar TB2无人机上。

目前还不清楚莫斯科希望这里生产哪些具体型号的无人机。

“人们想要的那些武器——柳叶刀导弹和大多数猎户座导弹——都无法出口，而那些可以出口的武器——KUB巡飞弹和猎户座导弹——也反响平平，”海军分析中心专门研究俄罗斯军事能力的分析师萨姆·本德特说。

不过，他补充说，其中一个候选者可能是 Zala ISR，他使用了情报、监视和侦察的缩写。

制造商 Zala Aero Group 也参加了此次无人机展，但该公司并未公开展示任何飞机，这一趋势与该供应商以往的展会做法相同。

当被问及俄罗斯在中东制造无人机的可能性，以及他们的任何平台是否会被纳入其中时，Zala 的一位代表表示，该公司并不知晓这些报道。

“我们也是第一次听说这件事，”这位代表告诉《防务新闻》。

伊丽莎白·戈斯林-马洛曾任《防务新闻》欧洲通讯员。她的报道涵盖军事采购和国际安全等广泛领域，尤其擅长航空领域的报道。她常驻意大利米兰。