Many of the companies presented at ADEX 2016 have been operating in Azerbaijan for some years and their activities have already given tangible results in the form of contracts, providing a powerful impetus to the development of military-technical cooperation between Azerbaijan and the partner countries.

The governement has assigned the issue of localizing production of staple military hardware as a strategic development matter for the coming decades. This has been confirmed by state investment programmes aimed at developing domestic military production over this period, primarily the establishment of the Ministry of Defence Industry by Ilham Aliyev's Presidential order on 16 December 2005.

A range of major projects have been completed in Azerbaijan's defense industry, and production capacity for military goods has been dramatically expanded. At present, around 1200 different items and models are produced in the country.

This year a number of countries have increased the scale of their national expositions; for example, Turkey’s pavilion is 30 percent larger than it was back in 2016. The leading companies of the defence sector from Italy, Bulgaria, China, the Netherlands, Lithuania and other countries are among participants of ADEX 2018.

The third hall of Baku Expo Centre will host the pavilion of the Ministry of the Defence Industry of the Republic of Azerbaijan, where the most recent armaments and military equipment of local production will be on display. Here, the industry professionals will be able to get acquainted with the new products of Azerbaijan’s defence complex and witness both the current and growing capabilities of the Armed Forces of Azerbaijan. Moreover, this year’s newcomers from Azerbaijan are the science and technology company Vitta, High Tech Park (ANAS), Service Centre for Armament and Military Equipment of Air Defence.

The media also shows great interest in the exhibition. Information support for the exhibition is provided by over 60 leading international and local specialized media - magazines, websites, and news agencies. The general information partner of the exhibition is IHS Jane's Defence Weekly (UK), and the official online diary of the exhibition is Army Recognition (Belgium), while the official Media partner is the Azeri Defence magazine (Azerbaijan).

There are an increased number of entities and organisations that demonstrate military and dual-use products at ADEX; the number of exhibits also shows an increase. Thus, ADEX 2018 will represent the following sectors: Air Defence (AD) and Missile Defence (MD) Systems; Military Shipbuilding; Development and Upgrade of Weapons Systems; Military Research; UAV Systems; Robotic Systems; Small Arms, Ammunition and Accoutrements; Demilitarization Systems; Missile and Artillery Rounds; MLRS; Electro-optical and Laser Technology; Armoured Vehicles; Submarines; Cyber-security of Naval Forces; EW & C4ISR Systems; Machinery and Equipment of Railway Troops; Technology and Equipment for Manufacture, Maintenance and Disposal of Weapons, and many more. Alongside the other sectors, this year’s exhibition will widely feature the military aviation industry sector where famous corporations such as MIG, TUSAS, Leonardo, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Motor Sich, Russian Helicopters and Aeronautics Group will participate.

As is tradition, the business programme of ADEX 2018 will be rich in thematic events with informative and eye-catching content; these events include presentations in the field of innovative research, developments and technology in the field of national defence and security and will create ample opportunities for bilateral meetings with heads of line ministries, foreign military delegations, manufacturing companies and customers.

Thus, the ADEX 2018 exhibition will serve as an ideal platform for demonstrating the latest weapons and concluding new agreements in the area of international military and technical cooperation. The exhibition will be held at Baku Expo Centre.