Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi inaugurated the “EDEX 2023,” the International Defense and Military Industries Exhibition, organized by Egypt from December 4 to 7, 2023. This exhibition is the only defense and security event covering Africa and the Middle East, offering a unique opportunity for exhibitors to showcase the latest technologies, equipment, and systems in land, sea, and air domains.
For the first time, the event showcased locally made Egyptian weapons, including advanced radars, drones, armored vehicles, tanks, frigates, and naval boats, along with electro-optical devices and light weapons. This first international defense exhibition hosted in Egypt occurs biennially, with its inaugural edition launched in 2018. The second edition, scheduled for 2020, was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, featuring participation from over 400 companies from around 42 countries.
This year’s exhibition spans large display halls totaling 30,000 square meters, incorporating modern exhibition methods with pavilions for different types of weapons, areas for military research presentations by guests, and spaces for hosting, relaxation, meetings, and signing partnership and cooperation contracts.
The exhibition includes display screens for weaponry located at naval bases and large aircraft, with dedicated external display screens organized by the event organizers. The exhibition features pavilions from leading defense and military countries, including the main pavilions of Russia, the United States, China, France, Germany, Italy, and others.
As of 2023, the Egyptian military is recognized as a significant power on the global stage and the most powerful in the Arab world. Ranked 14th out of 145 countries in the Global Firepower (GFP) index, Egypt’s military strength is notable, with a PwrIndx* score of 0.2224, where a score of 0.0000 is considered ‘perfect’. This places Egypt ahead of other regional powers, with Saudi Arabia and Algeria following in the global rankings at 22nd and 26th places respectively.
