By Luan Hai
MOSCOW, August 27 (ChinaMil) -- The “ARMY-2018” International Military-Technical Forum was opened at the Patriot Expocenter in the suburbs of Moscow, Russia on August 21, 2018. The arms exhibition, as one of the forum’s major events, was held in an indoor exhibition zone covering 65,000 sq. m. A dozen Chinese companies showcased combat equipment, information and communications equipment, and logistics equipment which attracted visitors from various countries.
The booth of China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co., Ltd. (CSOC) resembled a mini task fleet. Fu Yongcai, general manager assistant of CSOC, said, “We have brought 11 product models and 3 physical exhibits to expand the Russian market. The models include dock landing ships, frigates for export, littoral mission ships (LMS), submarines fitted with an air-independent propulsion (AIP) system, submarine-launched large torpedoes, surface ship-launched or warplane-launched small torpedoes, marine power propulsion systems, unmanned patrol boats for shadowing, rescue and strike missions, and the manned deep-sea submersible Jiaolong. The physical exhibits include a shipborne photoelectric reconnaissance system and two day-and-night thermal imagers.”
China North Industries Corp. (Norinco) presented exhibits in the following four categories – suppressive fire, armored assault, air and missile defense (AMD), and fortification assault and armor penetration. Exhibits included models of artillery, rocket guns, intelligent munitions, tanks, armored cars, mine-protected vehicles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), anti-aircraft missiles, missile-artillery integrated air defense systems, and “Red Arrow” anti-tank guided missiles, as well as the physical exhibits of two infrared thermal imagers and multiple small weapons shown on video.
Talking of the Chinese participants’ aspirations for this exhibition, Fu Yongcai said, “As China currently has less exports of naval equipment to Russia, we hope to expand the markets in Russia and other CIS countries. Over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s defense industry and technologies have made enormous progress, especially in electronic technology with the potential of complementary cooperation with Russia. Moreover, China’s advanced naval vessels, known for their swiftness, are becoming light-weighted and more attractive to Russia and other CIS countries.”
A market representative of Norinco said that their participation was aimed to showcase the strength and image of China’s defense industry and promote Chinese military products. “Military and enterprise representatives from more than 100 countries have participated in the ‘ARMY-2018’ forum. Many of their home countries are good partners of China, and their related institutions and firms are potential buyers of Chinese military products.”
“This is the first group debut of China Electronics Corporation (CEC) in a Russian arms exhibition, meeting clients from CIS countries,” said a CEC representative. “We are able to provide systematic options independent from the Western arms system for overseas clients. These options may prevent product monopoly by Western enterprises. Besides, Chinese R&D personnel are striving to replace part of the overseas electronic products in complete series, in case of backdoor attacks by computer viruses.”
