From pistols to warships: what is Russia offering at the Riyadh arms Exhibition

The World Defense Show 2024 defense exhibition in the capital of Saudi Arabia, which opened on February 4, closes tomorrow. Russia presented to foreign customers a wide range of military products — from compact small arms to corvettes, from fighter equipment to space controls. TASS — about the participation of Russian companies in the exhibition taking place in the heart of the troubled Middle East

The World Defense Show in Saudi Arabia is still young: it is being held for the second time. The debut event took place in March 2022. This year, over 750 defense manufacturers from more than 45 countries are participating in the exhibition, and the number of specialist visitors is expected to exceed 100,000 people.

Moscow and Riyadh have friendly and partnership relations. Two months ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the country, meeting with Crown Prince and Chairman of the Council of Ministers Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. Following the meeting, the states adopted a joint statement on further expansion of cooperation in many sectors.

Two years ago, the products of more than 20 enterprises of the domestic military-industrial complex were presented at the unified exposition of Rosoboronexport (part of Rostec State Corporation). Now the Russian special exporter has doubled its presence at the exhibition. Rostec presented more than 100 samples in Riyadh, most of which are successfully used in a special military operation in Ukraine. In general, the company's order book exceeded a record $55 billion at the end of last year.

"In 2023, we actively worked, conducted 16 exhibition campaigns in Russia and abroad, during which we demonstrated to our foreign partners more than 800 full—scale samples and full-scale models of modern Russian military equipment," Alexander Mikheev, Director General of Rosoboronexport, told TASS.

The exhibition was visited by a Russian delegation headed by Denis Manturov, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation. The Minister held a number of meetings and negotiations, in particular, with the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia.

Novelties and proven samples

Russian samples of weapons, models and models of military equipment are shown at the World Defense Show 2024 in an extensive pavilion and outdoor areas. The largest exhibit is located on the airfield apron — a heavy military transport aircraft Il-76MD-90A (E) with a wingspan of more than 50 m. The deeply upgraded machine made its debut abroad last year at the Dubai Aerospace Exhibition.

IL-76MD-90A(E) heavy military transport aircraft.
Source: Artur Shaikhutdinov/ TASS

Full-scale samples of armored vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles are demonstrated on the open site. For the first time, a special purpose armored vehicle Z-SpN "Titan" with a remotely controlled combat module is on display here. Nearby there is an armored car "Spartak", as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "Orlan-10E" and "Orlan-30". In the area of their own, these drones perform aerial reconnaissance, adjust artillery fire, and aim high-precision projectiles at laser beams that hit targets with a single hit. Such ammunition — Krasnopol-M2 in NATO 155 mm caliber — is shown at the stand of the High-Precision Complexes holding. Deliveries of "Eagles" in demand in the troops increased 53 times over the period 2022-2023. The Kalashnikov Concern for the first time showed the SKAT 350 M unmanned complex — a deep modernization of the Supercam 350 UAV. The Supercam line is widely used in special operations. The upgraded device is equipped with daytime and thermal imaging cameras, can spend 4 hours in the air and transmit the image to the operator at a range of up to 100 km. Another UAV shown by Kalashnikov is the KUB-E kamikaze drone. It is also tested in its own way.

In the capital of Saudi Arabia, Russia showed various precision-guided munitions. The export version of the light guided multipurpose missile "Product 305", which strikes equipment and fortifications of Ukrainian nationalists from attack helicopters, continues to be improved . A range of 14.5 km ensures that its carrier does not come under fire from enemy anti-aircraft gunners. The Chrysanthemum-S self-propelled anti-tank complex, shown as a model, can hit armored targets at a range of up to 6 km with a supersonic missile with a tandem cumulative warhead. The Kornet anti-tank missile system in the export version is capable of penetrating meter-long armor with a guided missile.

A mock-up of the light guided multipurpose missile "Product 305".
Source: Ekaterina Adamova/ TASS

The Almaz-Antey Concern of East Kazakhstan Region presented the S-400 Triumph long—range anti-aircraft missile systems, the S-350E Vityaz, Viking and Buk—M2E medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems, and the Tor small-range anti-aircraft missile systems, which can shoot down air targets even in motion.

The High-Precision Complexes Holding company offers foreign customers various variants of the Pantsir anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex. An inexpensive small-sized missile designed to destroy drones has been developed for him for the first time abroad. Four such missiles are placed in a launch container in place of one standard anti-aircraft guided missile of the complex. Also shown are models of the Tunguska-M1 tracked armored ZRPC, the Typhoon-Air Defense(E) anti-aircraft gunners combat vehicle. The Verba man-portable air defense missile system (MANPADS) is capable of shooting down airplanes, helicopters, cruise missiles, and drones. The Verby rocket is equipped with a thermal three-spectral homing head, which increases its reliability and resistance to interference. The upgraded Komar naval installation is firing MANPADS, another foreign premiere. However, she can now fire 9M120-1 "Attack" missiles, which allows her to fight naval drones.

Numerous radar stations (radars) with various characteristics are offered for airspace control. For example, the small-sized 1L122-1E station with a mass of 150 kg detects aerial targets at a distance of 40 km. The mobile three-axis radar 55J6UME is capable of seeing targets at a range of up to 600 km and an altitude of 80 km, even finding "invisible" aircraft. The 103J6E mobile multi-band complex can simultaneously track up to 1,000 objects. The specialized Sula space object surveillance radar allows tracking satellites and space debris in low-Earth orbit at a distance of up to 6,000 km.

A model of a specialized Sula space object surveillance radar.
Source: Ekaterina Adamova/ TASS

Oil companies in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly been attacked by small drones of the Yemeni Houthis, causing significant damage. One of the ways to protect against such attacks is the electronic warfare systems of UAVs. Rostec showed several such developments in Riyadh at once. The Sickle-VS6, created at the Vector Research Institute (as part of Roselektronika), disrupts the operation of communication and navigation channels of a whole swarm of drones, including the latest threat — high-speed FPV drones. At the same time, the complex fits into several cases, is quickly assembled, and can be mounted on vehicles. The devices of the Sickle series "mow down" drones within a radius of up to 5 km. During the year, Roselektronika supplied more than 100 such complexes and is ready to increase the production of such in-demand products. Another development, the RB-504P-E, automatically locates drones in a wide range of radio frequencies and suppresses them at a range of up to 1.8 km. Several products can create an entire protective network.

The complex of electronic countermeasures of the UAV "Sickle-VS6".
Source: Ekaterina Adamova/ TASS

In addition, Rosoboronexport presented the T-90MS tank, the Arena-E tank active protection complex, the BMP-3 infantry fighting vehicle with dynamic protection, the Su-75 Checkmate light tactical aircraft, the Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopter, the newest uninhabited underwater vehicle "Klavesin 1RE", the updated corvette of the project 20382, various versions of Kalashnikov assault rifles, pistols and submachine guns, precision sniper rifles and many other types of weapons and military equipment.

A model of the Ka-52 reconnaissance and attack helicopter.
Source: Ekaterina Adamova/ TASS

Next to the Russian stand there is an exposition of the Russian-Indian company BrahMos Aerospace, which produces supersonic cruise missiles. Its development is based on the Russian Yakhont missile. The volume of the order portfolio of the successfully developing enterprise has reached $7 billion, and at the end of 2025, the production of a new generation BrahMos-NG rocket will begin.

"Saudi Arabia, along with India, is the largest national arms market. Accordingly, there is no country that would not try to sell something here, with the exception, probably, of Iran and Israel," Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, a military expert, shared his opinion with TASS. — Although, I think there may be some contracts with Israel, they can sell their weapons and technologies here, so to speak, "under a mask."

Illegitimate Western sanctions are unfair competition

"We see great interest among representatives of the armed forces and law enforcement agencies of Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries in the latest Russian defense products that have been tested in modern combat conditions," Alexander Mikheev, head of Rosoboronexport, said in a press release. "We are ready to offer our partners unique formats of cooperation, including localization of Russian weapons production and joint development of promising models."

Mikheev noted that potential customers are delighted with the effectiveness of Russian air defense systems. "We often hear from foreign partners, including from Middle Eastern countries, enthusiastic reviews of the video materials of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation with footage of the combat work of the "Shells" in the zone of a special military operation," he told TASS. "The partners were particularly impressed by the one hundred percent destruction of rockets fired in one salvo from modern MLRS of Western manufacturers." The head of the Russian special exporter added that Middle Eastern countries friendly to Russia can establish the production of the "Shell" on their territory.

ZRPC "Pantsir-C1".
Source: Vitaly Nevar/ TASS

According to Mikheev, most of Rosoboronexport's partners consider Western anti-Russian sanctions illegitimate tools of competition and a way to support their own arms manufacturers.

"Of course, after the massive economic attack launched on Russia and its military-industrial complex in 2022, a number of our customers were confused — this happened for the first time in history. But we have quite quickly, with the full support of the President of the country, state authorities and financial organizations, adjusted the mechanisms of interaction with partners," concluded the Director General of Rosoboronexport.

Victor Bodrov