Weapons manufacturers gather in Cairo for Egypt Defence Expo

The world’s leading weapons manufacturers have arrived in Cairo for the second Egypt Defence Expo.

Weapons makers put on display their latest rifles, drones, tanks and surveillance equipment at the largest exhibition hall in the Egyptian capital yesterday. Some of the exhibitors will hold demonstrations of their products across the four days of the trade show.

The show was being held in the four halls of New Cairo’s Egypt International Exhibition Centre.

The first Edex was held in 2018.

Defence ministers from a number of countries were also present yesterday, with exhibitors competing for their attention in the hopes of signing highly lucrative contracts with militaries.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi inaugurated the event yesterday morning, flanked by defence ministers and officials from around the world. “It is my honour to congratulate you all on the inauguration of this year’s expo,” he said.

“The event this year is really quite significant and mirrors the size and calibre of the many companies who are in attendance. I wish you all success and a pleasant stay in Egypt.”

The largest national pavilions at the expo belonged to Egypt and the UAE, whose pavilion took up half of the centre’s third hall.

Companies from China, Russia and India also featured prominently at this year’s Edex, offering a wide range of military hardware including missiles, drones and other weapons.

“Our pavilion is made up of India’s leading weapons developers,” a spokesman for the Indian pavilion told The National.

“Many of the members of our consortium this year have completed large-scale government projects in India and we are now hoping to enter the Arabian market.”

Unlike the Indian and Emirati delegations, which grouped all their exhibitors together, the Russian exhibitors presented their goods at separate, smaller stalls.

“We are very excited for our presentation this week,” a spokesman for the Kalashnikov group said. “We are particularly excited to showcase the latest upgrades to our AK-47 model, which is quite popular.”

The Egyptian pavilion showed off a range of tanks, amphibious assault vehicles and rocket launchers, all manufactured by military-affiliated, public-sector companies.