Russian industry in plain sight at Dubai Airshow, US won’t challenge UAE on ‘sovereign decisions’

DUBAI AIRSHOW — Despite the continuation of large scale military operations in Ukraine, Russia pitched up at the Dubai Airshow this year with an imposing industry presence, complete with a standalone national pavilion and a variety of fixed-wing, uncrewed, rotary, space and air defense systems, and air-launched missiles.

Many of the firms showing off their wares at Al Maktoum International Airport are under sanction from Washington and its allies. But the open participation of Russian firms has not apparently led the US to lodge a protest with the UAE or show organizers.

Asked by Breaking Defense if it had any concerns around the UAE continuing to host the Russian Federation at international trade shows, a US State Department official speaking on background said, “We recognize and acknowledge that countries make their own sovereign decisions about diplomatic and defense engagements. We refer you to the Emirati defense ministry to speak to their defense procurement plans.”

Russia has reason to want to show off in force at the region’s largest commercial and military airshow. A year and a half into a war Russia expected would last only days, Moscow is eyeing defense exports as a way to bring some much-needed cash into its coffers, as well as provide greater geopolitical ties to players in the region.

“[It is] notable that there is a Russian presence [at the Dubai Air Show], if not mainly in the main exhibition area,” said Douglas Barrie, senior fellow for military aerospace at the UK-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) military think tank. “Moscow faces a challenge in sustaining defense sales in the region as near-term domestic demands will almost certainly take precedence.”

The Russian government said in a Monday statement that “our country presented over 250 samples of products” in Dubai — a less than credible claim based on platforms observed by Breaking Defense, though verifying an exact figure is impossible. A core group of leading Russian defense contractors are participating, though they do not appear as of this report on an official exhibitor list from organizers that counts only the Russian space agency Roscosmos as attending. Organizers declined to comment about such a disparity.

On the same day, Russia’s national pavilion played host to a meeting of Kremlin and Russian industry officials and a UAE delegation. The Russian state-affiliated news agency TASS said Russia and the Emirates talked about military co-operation “prospects,” citing information from Dmitry Shugayev, head of Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation. Other senior officials from Russia’s political and industry circles have also been at the show, including Denis Manturov, Russia’s deputy prime minister and Sergei Chemezov, CEO of Rostec Corporation.

At the airshow, the exhibition hall is home to the overwhelming majority of defense suppliers around the world at the show, located in the center of Al Maktoum. But a large Russian pavilion sits on the show grounds but outside the hall — comparable to how large companies or other nations present their wares inside the hall itself. (At the IDEX defense exhibition in Abu Dhabi in February, Russia similarly was barely represented on the official exhibitors list but built a large pavilion on the docks of the NAVDEX naval-centered sister show just steps from the main floor.)

The Roscosmos stand, the only Russian floor space within the main exhibition hall, primarily displayed ostensibly civil systems with the exception of potential dual-use tech items like a GLONASS laser ranging station, a satellite navigation constellation.

Other major players spotted here though include the Rostec Group, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Russian Helicopters, as well as Rosnobornexport, the national export agency, which is displaying, for the first time at an international airshow, the Ilyushin Il-76MD90A(E) large transport aircraft.

The KA-52 attack helicopter, a platform subjected to many losses from low-level and short-range shootdown attacks by Ukraine over the course of the conflict, has also been on static display.

Uncrewed aerial vehicles like the BAS-220 helicopter drone are on view too, alongside a series of civil aviation rotorcraft. UAC showcased several not-to-scale models of the Viking medium range Surface to Air Missile (SAM) system.

Additionally, Russian Knights from the Russian Air Force, comprising Sukhoi Su-30 and Su-35 fighter jets, took part in a flying display, a rare appearance for the acrobatic demonstration squad abroad.

Notably missing from the show, however, is the Sukhoi Su-75 Checkmate, Russia’s headline-grabbing fighter from the 2021 Dubai Airshow. Pitched as a technological competitor to the F-35 fifth-generation fighter jet, future plans for the aircraft look uncertain. Nor was there any signs of progress regarding Russia’s initial sales push for industrial participation with the UAE.

Despite its presence, Moscow however, so far, has not announced any orders at the show, though the same can be said for major US and European defense contractors.

Russian fighters weren’t the only ones flying over Dubai this week, however. The US, which calls Moscow an “acute threat,” took the opportunity to fly F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in a display, apparently having overcome any fears Russia could glean any stealth secrets.

The F-35 was not on static display, but elsewhere, and perhaps by design, the two adversaries’ respective hardware was displayed on opposite ends of the tarmac here.

Breaking Defense’s Agnes Helou and Michael Marrow contributed reporting from Dubai.