OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2014. The weapons and military equipment exhibition Africa Aerospace and Defence 2014 has come to an end in South Africa.

As a result of its participation, Rosoboronexport is going to expand significantly its presence on the African continent over the coming years. Presently only of 2% of military products supplied to Africa are made by the special exporter of Russian arms.

During the exhibition, the Russian delegation held more than 70 meetings with potential partners. The most important talks were held during the first days of the exhibition. Rosoboronexport, the special exporter of Russian weapons, plans to expand its presence in Africa in the coming years. Presently only 2% of military products supplied to African companies come from the Russian producer.

During negotiations, the Russian side was represented by Anatoly Isaikin, Rosoboronexport CEO; Alexander Fomin, Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, and Vladimir Kozhin, Aide to the Russian President.

Kommersant   quoted Yuri Demchenko, director-at-large of Rosoboronexport and the head of the company’s delegation at the exhibition: “This exhibition is the largest on the continent and the most effective platform for promoting Russian weapons and military equipment in sub-Saharan Africa.”

Sergey Goreslavsky, Deputy CEO of Rosoboronexport, noted that, as part of the talks, South Africa was presented with a proposal for an integrated security system based on the experience of hosting the Olympic Games in Sochi. According to Goreslavsky, negotiations for individual components indicated that such a system could be in very high demand. “We are offering this system for all countries in the region. The system is based on the idea of a “safe city” and includes the supply of various kinds of weapons (Tiger, Pantsir, and Igla), as well as communication equipment,” explained the Rosoboronexport Deputy CEO.

African countries have consistently shown interest in Russian aviation technology. For example, a contract was recently signed with Nigeria for the delivery of six Mi-35 and six Mi-17 helicopters. There is another contract with Angola worth USD1 billion for the supply of Su-30K airplanes and Mi-24P and Mi-171Sh helicopters. In addition, for the first time in 15 years, Russian and Nambia have signed a contract for the supply of small arms, mortars, automotive equipment, and ammunition.

Rosoboronexport intends to increase its presence in the region. As the head of the Rosoboronexport delegation said at the exhibition, cooperation with South Africa in particular is important for Russia not only bilaterally, but also in terms of cooperation within BRICS countries.

“We are seeing increased interest from South Africa in industrial and scientific-technical cooperation with Russian enterprises, particularly concerning the development of new kinds of aircraft weapons within the BRICS network,” said Yuri Demchenko.