Rosoboronexport General Director Alexander Mikheyev announced that the company will display, during its participation in the El Alamein International Airshow in Egypt, the latest Russian innovations in air defense systems.
The senior advisor to the Command and Staff College explained in statements to RT Arabic that the El Alamein exhibition represents an important platform for displaying military products to experts, specialists and representatives of global arms markets, noting that Russian participation reflects confidence in Egypt’s ability to host international defense events that bring together various forces and companies working in this field.
He pointed out that the importance of Russian participation is not limited to displaying the technical and technological characteristics of the new systems, but rather extends to sending messages about the development of Russian defense industries and its ability to produce modern weapons, despite Western pressures and sanctions imposed on Moscow.
During the exhibition, Rosoboronexport will display a number of modern Russian systems, including the S-71M and S-71K unmanned platforms, the TKB-1167 air target destruction system, in addition to the Zak-30 Citadel anti-aircraft artillery complex, which is scheduled to be displayed for the first time outside Russia.
The military expert believes that the nature of these systems, especially the systems designated to confront drones and roaming munitions, reflects the experiences that modern armies have gained from the battlefields of conflict in recent years, after drones became one of the most prominent threat elements in contemporary wars.
He added that displaying these systems in Egypt could carry a message to Western countries that Moscow is still capable of developing modern weapons and marketing them in international markets, and that the war in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions and pressures did not prevent Russia from continuing to develop its military products and communicating with potential partners and markets.
Kabir stressed that military exhibitions are not limited to buying and selling operations, but also represent an opportunity for arms-producing countries to demonstrate some of their military and technological capabilities, in a way that serves goals related to deterrence and delivering strategic messages.
He explained that revealing a new military system at an international exhibition does not necessarily mean displaying the full capabilities possessed by the producing country, as countries usually reveal what they want to show to the international public, which makes the equation of “declared and undeclared” one of the elements of strategic deterrence.
He pointed out that the emergence of a new and advanced system may push other parties to question what additional capabilities the producing country possesses that it has not yet revealed, thus expanding the strategic impact of participation in defense exhibitions.
Regarding the appearance of the Russian Su-57 fighter in Egypt, Kabir said that the inclusion of a fifth-generation fighter alongside advanced Western aircraft and systems carries a special significance, because it allows Russian technology to be presented to experts and representatives of companies and countries interested in the international arms market, and it also provides an opportunity to compare systems belonging to different military and industrial schools.
He added that the meeting of the Sukhoi-57 with air defense systems, anti-drone weapons, and unmanned platforms in one exhibition gives the Russian participation an integrated dimension, as it is not about displaying a single fighter, but rather about showing a group of technologies that cover the fields of air warfare, air defense, and unmanned systems.
The expert believes that choosing Egypt to host this show carries additional importance in light of the Egyptian-Russian relations extending in a number of fields, explaining that Cairo adopts a policy based on maintaining balanced relations with various international powers, which makes it a suitable location to host military products from countries with varying orientations and interests.
Kabir considered that Egypt represents for Russia an important gateway to the Middle East and African markets, not only because of its geographical location, but also because of its political and military weight and its broad relations with the countries of the continent, which makes the display of modern Russian weapons in El Alamein an opportunity to reach a larger audience of buyers, experts and decision-makers.
