With VOSTOK 18 Around The Corner, Russian Military Expo Breaks Its Own Record

Russia’s latest military technologies were recently showcased at the fourth International Military-Technical Forum held in the outskirts of Moscow.

“Army-2018” was a five-day affair, where more than 1,200 Russian companies showed off their latest capabilities and products, on the testing and training grounds at Alabino, Kubinka and Patriot Park, just 53 km southwest of Moscow. With more than 26,000 exhibits showcased this year, the forum far surpassed last year’s figures when only 2,500 weapons were displayed.

Viktor Litovkin, a military observer, says it is almost impossible to list everything exhibited at the forum.

“Any international showroom – even Le Bourget, Farnborough, or Dubai – would have envied such an exhibition, especially as [these showrooms] never showcases such a large number of Russian military achievements,” Litovkin said, according to reports by TASS.

The exhibition was open to the public from August 24-26. More than one million visitors were reported to have attended the event.

For the first time Russian manufacturers showed off 36 of the latest models of weapons, including the battle tank known as Armata; a self-propelled gun called 2S35 Koalitsiya-SV; and Bumerang, an amphibious armored personnel carrier.

Also exhibited was an adaptive disguise in the form of a helmet, which is covered with a layer of electrically conductive coating that displays a picture of the surrounding environment in order to masks its wearer.

“In fact, it can be not only a helmet, but anything else, including overalls, jackets, trousers, shoes, and others. You will not see a person dressed in such a uniform, as he will completely merge with the environment,” Mikhail Timoshenko, a military expert said in an interview with 360tv.

Aviation lovers were not left out of the picture. Russia’s Mi-17-B5 helicopter, a modified version of the Mi-8, was on full display. The chopper is capable of transporting 36 servicemen or 4 tons of cargo and is adapted to work in high altitude conditions with drops in a temperature. The Russian-made Mi-8/17 helicopters have already been sold to 80 countries.

In addition to Russian military hardware, 26 other countries presented theirs.

Foreign guests came here not just to showcase their weapons, but to look for partners,” says Alexei Leonkov, a military expert and editor at Arsenal Otechestva magazine, according to reports by 360tv.

Rostec, the Russian state-owned holding conglomerate headquartered in Moscow, signed agreements worth more than 100 billion rubles, or nearly $1.4 billion. That figure is more than twice the worth of agreements signed at Army-2017.

According to Rosteс’s website, post-Soviet states as well as others in Asia, and Africa, signed agreements, which cover a wide range of issues such as the supply and servicing of modern land military equipment, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare means, and melee weapons.

“The forum once again proved that interest in our developments is growing,” said Sergei Abramov, the industrial director of Rostec. “This year, we held more than 120 meetings with Russian and foreign partners on the site.”

Meanwhile, officials in Moscow are preparing to hold the biggest military drills since the Cold War, dubbed “Vostok-2018.” The drills will take place from September 11-15 in Russia’s Eastern and Central Military Districts. Russia’s Northern and Pacific Fleets will provide the land forces with necessary support.

Russia’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said the drills will be “on an unprecedented scale both in terms of the area covered and in terms of the numbers” of military forces.

"More than 1,000 aircraft, almost 300,000 troops and almost all the firing ranges of the Central and Eastern military districts" would be involved, he said, according to Daily Nation.