Azerbaijan Reveals New Domestic Weapons at ADEX Defense Exhibition

More than 200 defense companies from 26 countries are participating in the Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition, also known as ADEX, which is currently being held in the country’s capital Baku.

The fourth edition of the event opened on Tuesday. President Ilham Aliyev toured the exhibition where cutting-edge weapons and equipment are being showcased.

Addressing participants, President Aliyev described exhibition as an important platform to develop military-technical cooperation and explore opportunities for expanding business relations between various countries.

He noted that Azerbaijan is closely cooperating with leading companies from more than 50 countries that operate in the aviation, navigation, device manufacturing and other sectors.

“In the coming period, we will further strengthen the Armed Forces and the defense capability of our country, attaching special importance to the production of modern weapons, military equipment, ammunition, rear service property and other material means,” President Aliyev said.

The ADEX exhibition provides an opportunity for Azerbaijani military-industrial complex and global defense companies to showcase their modern military equipment and weaponry. The exhibitors represent the leading defense industry companies from Bulgaria, China, France, Netherlands, Italy, Belarus, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Russia, Türkiye and other countries. Companies from Jordan also joined the event as first-time exhibitors.

The exhibition demonstrates defense industry products from multiple sectors, including aircraft and aviation systems; ships, vessels and naval systems; armed combat vehicles; radio-electronic systems; optoelectronic equipment and systems; unmanned vehicles; military uniform clothing and equipment; weapons and ammunition; simulators and training systems; chemical, biological and radiation (CBR) protection items, as well as military organizations, export promotion companies and others.

The Defense Industry Ministry of Azerbaijan put on display various weapons and devices of local production, including 12.7 mm heavy machine gun and “Yırtıcı” (Predator) semi-automatic sniper rifle, 30-mm AT30 automatic cannon, “flying” mortar drone, remote weapon stabilization system, defensive complex, four new reconnaissance and strike drones, as well as GFAB-250 LG aircraft bomb, which was developed jointly with the Turkish leading defense manufacturer ASELSAN.

The all-new machine gun is designed to destroy manpower and light enemy fortifications at a distance of 2,000 to 3,000 meters, while the 7.62x54-mm sniper rifle is capable of hitting targets at least one kilometer away. The 30-mm AT-30 automatic cannon is designed to hit lightly armored enemy targets and anti-tank missile systems located at distances up to 1500 meters, manpower and armored vehicles from long distances, as well as air targets flying at a speed less than the speed of sound up to 2000 meters in the sky and fire weapons deployed behind light shelters.

Meanwhile, the 250-kilogram high-explosive fragmentation bomb GFAB-250 LG can destroy military equipment, structures, military industry and energy facilities, vehicles, aircraft at airfields, warehouses, bridges, manpower and other targets thanks to its top-notch accurate guidance system.

Azerbaijan’s Defense Industry Minister Madat Guliyev said intensive local production did not limit Azerbaijan’s interest in cutting-edge weapons offered by overseas companies as well as new vectors of cooperation with foreign partners.

Guliyev revealed that the Azerbaijani army would soon add all-new Turkish and Israeli-made weapons to its arsenal, adding that defense cooperation opportunities offer a lot of potential for Baku.

“Together with Türkiye, we are working on weapons, which are designed for 10-15 years ahead. That is, we look to the future. We even look 20 years ahead. This is the order of the head of state,” he said.

In the meantime, the Azerbaijan-based Improtex Industries Company is demonstrating an Azerbaijani-made mine detector robot at ADEX-2022. The robot is able to neutralize anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, carry payloads weighing up to 500 kilograms and evacuate wounded personnel. Earlier, Improtex Industries presented the national minesweeper Revival-P1, which will be used in the liberated lands of Azerbaijan.