The 18th edition of the Dubai International Airshow, which is held every two years at the (no longer quite so) new Dubai World Central Airport, comes to an end tomorrow. Although the financial volume was once again dominated by multi-billion deals for hundreds of airliners for the Gulf States, there was also a lot on offer in military terms.
The premieres for manufacturers and first-time customers included the latest Boeing F-15QA for Qatar or the most modern Eurofighter T3A for Kuwait on the ground and in the air. The South Koreans from Korean Aerospace Industries presented two of their Airbus-designs LAH and KUH01, and the Emirati UCAV drone Jeniah also flew for the first time in Dubai. The USAF was also represented on the ground with a wide range of aircraft stationed in the region, while eternal rivals India and Pakistan were also present at the same venue for the first time with Tejas Mk.1A and JF-17 Thunder Blk3.
Since the United Arab Emirates is one of the places where Russians have been invasion of Ukraine by their leadership the Russian Knights on Su-35s and a Ka-52 could also be seen there – but without a presence in catalogs and online. Also on site: the Chinese J-10C, the “1 August” aerobatic squadron and the Hongdu L-15 trainer. Several times coincidentally at the same time as a delegation from the Austrian Ministry of Defense, Militär Aktuell employee Georg Mader was able to obtain the latest information in update discussions with all manufacturers relevant to the Austrian Armed Forces – more on this in our December issue (-> subscribe here and receive the issue hot off the press in your mailbox).
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