Russian arms makers make big showing at Arab defense fair

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Russia’s defense companies are sensing an opening to get back into the global arms market, with Moscow’s state-owned firms afforded a prominent display of weaponry here at the IDEX and NAVDEX defense fairs.

The massive stand is in contrast to the footprint at recent shows, where Russian arms makers have kept a low profile or – in the case of European exhibitions – weren’t admitted at all because of the invasion of Ukraine.

With over a dozen Russian exhibitors, many of whom pitched upgraded variants of their weapons, the 2025 IDEX setting was noticeably different from the 2023 edition, when Russian companies were not even listed on the show’s official website – though they still had space in a separate pavilion outside the main hall.

This time around, Russian exhibitors were placed in one of the busiest halls of the show here, alongside major regional players such as Saudi Arabia’s Military Industries and Qatar’s Barzan Holdings.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 fundamentally altered its arms export industry, which saw a significant revenue plunge.

By the end of 2024, the Washington-based think tank Jamestown Foundation found that Russian weapons transfers had declined by 92% from 2021 levels, primarily due to the redistribution of national resources to support the Ukraine invasion and higher interest rates resulting from international sanctions.

Rosoboronexport, the state agency responsible for military trade, has maintained a business-as-usual composure, stating record level of orders for 2024.

Weeks before the exhibition here, Russian companies tried to create buzz around new products, reaching out to Western journalists and publishing press releases in English.

Among them is the Kalashnikov Group, which announced in mid-January that it would be unveiling a new Kub-2-E strike drone equipped with guided munitions as part of a drone-swarming concept and two new rifle designs.

The drones will be deployed by Russian troops from launchers mounted on armored vehicles, designed to target lightly armored military equipment, air defense systems, and helicopter basing sites, per a company press release .

According to the Institute of the Study of War, an American research organization for military affairs, Russia’s objective in showcasing these technological adaptations here is “to introduce innovations to optimize systems for use in Ukraine.”

Sam Bendett, advisor at the Washington-based Center for Naval Analyses think tank, said Russian defense companies are increasingly trying to capitalize on the claim of combat-proven equipment in the invasion of Ukraine.

Russian officials here also showcased an export variant of the T-90 Proryv main battle tank, which was placed at the centre stage of its pavilion and attracted a significant amount of attention from visitors on the opening day of the show here.

It was equipped with different types of protection against first-person-view drones, which have proven increasingly difficult to defend against across the battlefield.

Moscow has touted the capabilities of the platform in the Middle East since 2015 , with little success. The tanks are reported to have suffered heavy combat losses in Ukraine, with open-source intelligence analysts having recorded at least 124 destroyed, according to the Dutch-based equipment tracking group Oryx.

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——俄罗斯国防企业正嗅到重返全球武器市场的机会，莫斯科的国有企业在阿布扎比国际防务展（IDEX）和阿布扎比海军防务展（NAVDEX）上获得了重要的武器展示机会。

与最近几次展会相比，这个巨大的展台显得格外引人注目。在最近的展会上，俄罗斯武器制造商要么保持低调，要么——就欧洲展览而言——由于乌克兰遭到入侵，根本就被禁止参展。

2025 年 IDEX 展会有十几家俄罗斯参展商，其中许多参展商都推出了武器的升级版本。与 2023 年的展会相比，2025 年 IDEX 展会的氛围明显不同，当时俄罗斯公司甚至没有出现在展会的官方网站上——尽管它们仍然在主展厅外的一个独立展馆中占有一席之地。

这一次，俄罗斯参展商被安排在展会最繁忙的展厅之一，与沙特阿拉伯军事工业公司和卡塔尔巴尔赞控股公司等主要地区企业并肩而立。

2022 年 2 月，俄罗斯入侵乌克兰，从根本上改变了其武器出口行业，导致该行业收入大幅下降。

总部位于华盛顿的智库詹姆斯敦基金会发现，到 2024 年底，俄罗斯的武器转让量比 2021 年下降了 92%，这主要是由于国家资源重新分配以支持入侵乌克兰以及国际制裁导致利率上升。

负责军事贸易的国家机构俄罗斯国防出口公司保持着一切照常的冷静，并表示 2024 年的订单量将创历史新高。

在本次展览开幕前几周，俄罗斯公司就开始为新产品造势，他们联系西方记者，并用英语发布新闻稿。

其中包括卡拉什尼科夫集团，该集团在 1 月中旬宣布，将推出一款新型 Kub-2-E 攻击无人机，该无人机配备制导弹药，是无人机集群概念的一部分，同时还将推出两款新型步枪设计。

根据该公司的新闻稿，俄罗斯军队将使用安装在装甲车上的发射器部署这些无人机，旨在打击轻型装甲军事装备、防空系统和直升机基地。

据美国军事研究机构战争研究所称，俄罗斯在此展示这些技术改进的目的是“引入创新，以优化系统，供乌克兰使用”。

华盛顿海军分析中心智库顾问萨姆·本德特表示，俄罗斯国防公司正日益试图利用其在入侵乌克兰战争中拥有经实战检验的装备这一说法。

俄罗斯官员还在这里展示了T-90“开拓者”主战坦克的出口型，该坦克被放置在展馆的中心位置，并在展会开幕当天吸引了众多参观者的关注。

它配备了不同类型的防护措施，以抵御第一人称视角无人机，而第一人称视角无人机在战场上已被证明越来越难以防御。

自2015年以来，莫斯科一直在中东地区大力宣传该平台的性能，但收效甚微。据报道，这些坦克在乌克兰遭受了惨重的战斗损失，根据总部位于荷兰的装备追踪组织Oryx的数据，开源情报分析人员记录到至少有124辆坦克被摧毁。

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。