Egypt positions itself as a strategic defense hub in a changing region

Quadcopters, electromagnetic rifles and an AI-powered navigation system were among the wares displayed at one of Africa and the Middle East’s biggest arms expos, as defence companies jostle to break into regional markets increasingly defined by drone warfare. 

Cheap, deadly "unmanned aerial vehicles," or UAVs, have been rapidly developed in the war in Ukraine and also transformed recent conflicts from Ethiopia and Sudan to Libya and Yemen. That has created potentially lucrative opportunities for industry behemoths and startups alike in a market in which countries are spending billions. 

The slickly branded – and occasionally outlandish – products featured prominently at Egypt’s biennial EDEX trade fair, held over four days in Cairo’s suburbs last week. 

Uniformed delegates from countries as diverse as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia window-shopped at flashy displays by companies from Russia, China, the United States, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and beyond.

DEFENCE HUB HOPES

Egypt, at the crossroads of the Middle East and Africa, hopes to make its own sizable military-industrial complex – nourished by $1.3 billion of U.S. aid a year – a hub to manufacture and export defence hardware.

EDEX said it featured over 450 exhibitors, putting it on par with South Africa's Africa Aerospace and Defence expo, but well behind the Middle East's biggest industry fair, Abu Dhabi's IDEX.

Egypt's state-owned Arab Organization for Industrialization signed a memorandum of understanding for one such deal with China’s North Industries Corp, known as Norinco, to make rocket-equipped drones, its chairman told local TV. 

The company also agreed with France’s Dassault Aviation to make spare parts for Rafale fighter jets, which Egypt has bought, state media said. The value of the deals was not reported, and Norinco and Dassault did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Amstone International Group, an Egyptian defence firm, signed contracts with at least three unspecified customers for its Jabbar-family, single-use "kamikaze" drones, and was now looking to bigger international markets, Amstone consultant Mohammed Al-Sayed said.  

"It is a pride for all of us to have a product with this kind of power available globally," Sayed said. 

The company, founded in 2014 according to its LinkedIn profile, lists partnerships on its website with multiple African defence ministries.

DRONE MARKET PROPELLED BY UKRAINE WAR

Much of the kit on display at EDEX was tested in – or at least inspired by – the war in Ukraine, where drone and counter-drone technology has advanced with dizzying speed. 

Ukraine’s battlefields, beset by problems such as pervasive jamming, provided a “sandbox” to test products, said Stan Nowak, vice president of marketing at drone maker Red Cat Holdings Inc, at the company's booth at EDEX. 

"It’s kind of a recipe for technology to advance aggressively right now," he said. 

Red Cat sells surveillance drones to the U.S. military and hopes to lure customers such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the UAE. 

The company has also provided reconnaissance drones to Kenya to combat rhino poachers. 

Across the hall, Latvian company Eraser displayed a series of sleek quadcopters it provides to Latvia’s defence ministry and to the "Drone Coalition," an initiative to equip Ukraine with drones.

Project manager Maris Misevics said Eraser was visiting Egypt for the first time, "getting to know new markets". 

SYSTEMS TO COUNTER DRONES

Drone countermeasures are also in high demand, from vehicle-mounted jamming systems to futuristic laser weapons.   

One of the more comprehensive products on display was the "Sky Dome," an anti-drone system marketed by the state-owned China Electronics Technology Group Corporation to cope with drone swarms and precision strikes. 

A representative declined to speak about the system in detail, directing Reuters to a promotional video which promised a "multi-layer fire network" — including missiles, microwaves, interceptors and lasers — to "dynamically construct the killing chain" against a range of drones. 

South Korean firm Shinan offered a handheld rifle that fires electromagnetic pulses, while Kommlabs, an India-based company, displayed a "drone capture system" in which a drone with a net autonomously tracks and captures hostile and rogue drones using optical sensors and pulsed laser light before lowering them to the ground. 

"There have been cases where drones have been repurposed and used for bombing," the company’s founder and CEO, Karanvir Singh, said. "I guess it’s a matter of time before that becomes a serious problem here as well."

Turkish and Chinese companies offered more familiar methods, including high-powered jammers. 

Others promised to get around these countermeasures. Azerbaijan's Synapline presented an AI-powered navigation system that allows drones to operate even when GPS systems are jammed.

African and Arab countries had shown significant interest in the software, which the company hopes to produce for international customers next year, Agil Bilalov, a Synapline engineer, said. 

"We have big hopes for Africa," Bilalov said.