Russian Bison, Citadel and Sova will be shown at the air show in Egypt
From September 8-10, the El Alamein International Airshow 2026 will be held at the El Alamein International Airport in Egypt. Many samples of Russian weapons will be presented at this exhibition for the first time. For more information, see the material of the military observer "Gazeta.Ru", retired Colonel Mikhail Khodarenka.
In particular, for the first time in Egypt, the export Su-57E will be presented with weapons that have not yet been demonstrated either in Russia or abroad. This Russian fighter is scheduled to participate in the flight program of the salon.
It is a combat module equipped with four tank machine guns with the possibility of autonomous and automated detection, capture, recognition and tracking of UAVs and their destruction.
The TKB-1167 will be able to deal with low-flying small-sized drones, which are considered a difficult target for most anti-aircraft missile and artillery systems. The system automatically detects and captures the target, transmits the target designation to the installation with machine guns (PKT 7.62 mm caliber). The decision to destroy it is made by the operator. The TKB-1167 complex is already on combat duty and hitting real targets.
The Sova radar station was also brought to Egypt. It is a solid-state coherent Doppler system with continuous linear frequency-modulated radiation, designed to protect objects and monitor moving targets. Sova is designed to detect, track, and identify land, surface, and low-flying aerial objects, including unmanned aerial vehicles. The radar can detect objects at a range of up to 20 km (human — up to 8 km) and simultaneously track up to 20 targets.
The main areas of application of the Owl are: protection of state borders; protection of strategic facilities (airfields, hydroelectric power plants, large industrial and logistics centers, railway junctions); monitoring of specially protected areas; ensuring the safety of critical infrastructure facilities.
The ZAK-30 Citadel anti-aircraft artillery system will be shown abroad for the first time at the El Alamein International Airshow 2026. This system is a stationary and mobile automated short-range complex designed for round-the-clock protection of critical civilian infrastructure facilities, industrial enterprises, oil refineries, nuclear power plants, as well as military position areas and command posts from all types of small-scale aerial threats.
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| The new Citadel anti-aircraft artillery system. |
| Source: © Photo : Rostec |
The firepower of the ZAK-30 Citadel complex is based on a 30-millimeter rapid-fire artillery machine gun integrated into a single circuit with a multi-channel millimeter-range radar station, an optoelectronic system and an intelligent module for programmable remote fragmentation detonation of shells. The system is positioned as a highly efficient robotic barrier capable of reliably destroying enemy air attack assets at distances of up to four and a half kilometers with a minimum cost of one firing contact.
It should be emphasized that
The main firing point of the complex is a completely isolated, uninhabited circular artillery tower. An artillery unit is located inside the module, including a 30-millimeter accelerated automatic cannon (a modified version of the 2A38M or GSH-6-30 submachine gun). The gun barrel is enclosed in a special truss casing, which minimizes thermal deformations during intense heating during prolonged firing and ensures high rigidity of the entire structure. The full ammunition, ready for firing, is placed in the turret compartment in an isolated armored box and ranges from 500 to 1000 rounds, depending on the modification of the platform.
Some characteristics of the ZAK-30 "Citadel" near-range anti-aircraft artillery system are as follows:
the number of barrels in the module is 1 or 2 (depending on the modification); the maximum rate of fire of the complex is up to 4,500—5,000 rounds per minute; the maximum effective range of targets is 4,500 meters; the maximum height of air targets is 3,000 meters; the type of shots used are projectiles with a bottom induction fuse of remote programmable detonation, high—explosive incendiary, armor-piercing tracers.
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| The new Russian Yak-130M combat training aircraft made its first flight at the Irkutsk Aviation Plant. |
| Source: © Photo : United Aircraft Corporation |
A modernized Yak-130M combat training aircraft has also arrived at the salon in Egypt. The main differences from the Yak-130 are the presence of an on-board communications and defense system, an on-board radar station with AFAR, an optical location station and an on-board defense system in a container design, upgraded on-board systems and equipment, as well as an expanded range of aviation weapons.
In total, Russian companies will present more than 500 exhibits of military products at the El Alamein International Airshow 2026. Moscow has prepared an exhibition with the most promising Russian products for Egypt, Africa and the Middle East, which have been tested in real combat conditions.
Mikhail Khodarenok
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976).
Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operations Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
