Photo: Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov
The International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) – one of the world’s largest military and security trade fairs – is taking place this week in Abu Dhabi.
Among the exhibitors this year are dozens of Israeli and Russian defence companies marketing their products as “battle-tested” and using their respective wars in Gaza and Ukraine as proof of their equipment’s effectiveness.
The presence of Russian and Israeli firms at IDEX 2025 exposes the willingness of arms manufacturers to use real-world conflicts as marketing opportunities. Despite widespread accusations of war crimes and atrocities by Israel and Russia, Russian and Israeli companies continue to leverage their involvement in ongoing conflicts to promote their weapons on a global stage.
Russia’s Rosoboronexport, a subsidiary of the state-owned Rostec Corporation, is exhibiting 200 military products at IDEX 2025 including a record number of new weapons and equipment. On Monday, Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheyev told the Russian news agency TASS:
“Our partners in the Middle East are traditionally interested in high-tech weapons that correspond to the latest global trends. We display the largest number of new weapons at IDEX 2025 that have been tested in high-intensity combat and encountered the latest arms of Western countries. We are already holding consultations on the displayed samples with many partners from the Middle East and look forward to new fruitful projects.
Israel’s Ministry of Defence is also exhibiting at the event, along with approximately 30 Israeli defence companies, including major manufacturers Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Rafael Advanced Defence Systems, and Elbit Systems.
Bentzion Levinson, founder and chief executive of IDEX exhibitor Heven Drones, for example, told The National:
“What we’ve heard from all our customers is that nothing has changed, it’s just a bit more sensitive. It goes back to what things are spoken about out loud, the PR aspects of talking about things. So it’s not poor business … the optics are a bit more sensitive. Putting the optics aside, from a pure business perspective, what I’ve heard is that there’s a lot of interest in products that have proved themselves.”
Given the role of Russian and Israeli companies in facilitating the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Omega is calling on the organisers of arms and security trade fairs to prohibit such companies from attending and exhibiting.