Breaking Defense will be on the floor at IDEX 2023, the latest for the biennial expo in Abu Dhabi. Like the 2021 show, pictured here, the conference is expected to draw government officials, businesses and media from around the world. (Chyrine Mezher)
This report was updated 2/20/23 at 3:00 am ET to add information about a “separate” Russian pavilion and to correct information about Ukraine’s presence.
IDEX 2023 — As the International Defense Exhibition (IDEX) and its naval version NAVDEX kick off next week, trade visitors and officials are expecting the largest-ever edition of the show in the United Arab Emirates, with more countries and companies than ever hawking their defense materiel from a newly expanded floor.
In its 16th edition, the biennial IDEX will witness the participation of eight new nations — Uzbekistan, Ireland, Nigeria, Montenegro, Kuwait, Lithuania, Bangladesh and Monaco — bringing the total of represented countries to 65. A few Ukrainian companies will also be present, as well as the country’s National Association of Ukrainian Defense Industries. A Russian industry official announced Friday Russia would have a “separate pavilion” at the show with several Russian firms.
Some 1,350 companies will exhibit their wares, a 50 percent rise from the last IDEX in 2021, organizers said.
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NAVDEX, meanwhile, will include participation of a number of naval vessels and ships from eight countries: Pakistan, Bahrain, Britain, Italy, China, Kuwait, India and UAE.
The UAE’s troop withdrawal from war in Yemen in February 2020 and the relative decline in impact of the COVID-19 pandemic have made IDEX 2023 more inviting, and Abu Dhabi expects an increase in the number of official delegations to 250, a growth rate of 191 percent compared to 2021.
Likely driving the conversations next week will be the defense industry’s focus, in the wake of the conflict in Ukraine, on drones and counter-drone tech, as well as air defense systems, high energy laser, robotics, cybersecurity platforms, maritime security systems and secure communications.
New Features This Year
In this upcoming edition, IDEX will launch IDEX Next_Gen which is a space dedicated to let startups demonstrate their cutting edge tech in the defense and naval sector to leading figures in the industry.
Also, the Emirati ADNEC Group, and in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, launched on February 15 what are called IDEX Think Tank sessions for the first time. Those are closed sessions divided among six groups of defense and security experts from around the world to participate in strategic discussions on a number of significant topics.
There will also be Innovation Trail, a focused journey through the exhibition, highlighting the latest products and innovations for the defense and naval community will take place at the show. The show will also include a new content feature of theatres for attendees to learn about the latest industry critical topics located in the new marina hall.
Planners have set up a “Defence Through the Decades” area which will showcase an interactive gallery, highlighting products and technology from the industry throughout the past 30 years.
“This edition of IDEX and NAVDEX is of particular importance and is generating great interest as it is the largest in the history of the exhibition at all levels, and comes as a culmination of a 30-year success story,” Maj. Gen. Staff Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee, said in a statement earlier this month.
He added that “the current edition of the two exhibitions is witnessing a record turnout by major international companies specialized in the [defense] industries sector, in addition to delegations and specialists from all over the world, which is a testament to the strategic position enjoyed by these events and their role in shaping the features and future of the [defense] industries sector on all levels.”
As hosts, not only is the largest pavilion for the UA,E but 180 local defense companies are participating, composing 16 percent of the total exhibitors.
UAE’s defense conglomerate EDGE Group, and the strategic partner for the show, said it will exhibit 100 different technologies in the areas autonomous systems, smart weapons, land systems, naval systems, arms and ammunition, electronic warfare, secure communications and precision engineering.
Also Tawazun Council, the Principal Partner for this IDEX edition, will be present at the show and is also a strategic partner of International Defence Conference (IDC 2023) that will be held one day ahead of the show at 19 February.
That conference, “which is held under the theme ‘Adaption, Exploration, Transformation: Reimagining Security, Society, and the Human Experience in an age of Disruption’, will attract more than 1,800 participants with a growth rate of more than 25 percent compared to the previous edition, and will include four panel discussions on the economic and social implications and risks of adopting modern technologies, talent development and human capital management, and the impact of technologies on the future of technologies,” Maj. Gen. Mubarak Saeed bin Gafan Al Jabri, Vice Chairman of the Higher Organizing Committee, said in a statement.
Three decades have passed since the launch of the first IDEX in 1993, and the show is still gaining popularity amid a region where defense systems play a vital role in survival from asymmetric threats in the Gulf to securing the maritime pathways.
