Russia wants to establish partnerships with drone-making companies in the Middle East to boost its drone production capabilities.
According to state-owned media TASS, Russia’s defense export agency Rosoboronexport is set to discuss the plan at the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi.
“Company representatives will speak about broad capabilities in the field of industrial cooperation to localize drone production on the territory of the customer, hold joint work to create prospective samples with the use of Russian competences in their design,” TASS said.
Rosoboronexport was also present at the 2023 MILEX international trade fair held in Minsk. During that event, the agency exhibited various airborne technologies such as the Il-76MD-90A military transport aircraft, Su-35 multirole fighter and Mi-35M transport/attack helicopter.
Moscow saw increasing demand for arms in the Middle East before it launched an invasion of Ukraine, but the past two years have been about its military industrial base producing equipment exclusively to support the war.
In March 2023, a report revealed that Russian defense companies have fallen short of fulfilling orders from India, a main customer.
