PanOrient News | Large Arms Fair Held in South Korea

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Military

Large Arms Fair Held in South Korea

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Seoul - (PanOrient News) South Korean defense firms are taking part in a large arms fair held in the country's capital Seoul on Tuesday to sell their products to countries in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Renamed the Seoul International Aerospace and Defense Exhibition, the 2011 ADEX plans to serve as an international ground for marketing domestic and international defense businesses, organizers said. Known to be the biggest of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region this exhibition marked its biggest installment this year.

A record high of said 314 exhibitors from 32 countries are participating in this six-day event, making it the largest ever exhibition. The United States and Israel, are taking part and defense ministers and military leaders from Southeast Asia and the Middle East were also invited.

Some 90 VIPs, including military chiefs from Pakistan, Peru, Gabon, Nigeria, the Philippines and Oman and top procurement officials from Malaysia, Singapore and Equatorial Guinea are expected to join the event, according to organizers. Sayyid Badr bin Saud bin Harib al-Busaidi, Defence Minister of Oman took part in the opening. South Korea's Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik and Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin inspected the site of the event.

South Korea has positioned its defense industry to be one of the country's key exporters in the future. South Korean makers displayed products such as a high-speed helicopter, an improved armored vehicle and an unmanned reconnaissance plane. Major US makers are featuring their latest planes and missiles.

Also on display is South Korea's latest self-propelled artillery deployed at the country's island Yeonpyeong after it was attacked by North Korea last year.

Also, the helicopter Surion, which manufactured with Korean technology, made its first public flight demonstration. The high-engine helicopter is able to rise vertically while turning at the same time displaying high mobility and capabilities suitable for military operations.

There are also KT-1 training jets and the military's ground weapons systems such as K-9 howitzers attracting attention from international defense procurement officials.

Celebrating its 8th anniversary, the bi-annual exhibition opens exclusively for business representatives during the first 4 days, and then opens to the general public on the weekend.

"It is expected to be the largest-ever exhibition," Oh Yoo-jung, an official of the Seoul ADEX 2011 told local media.“Through the practical business activities among key figures including defense ministers, on-site contracts worth $500 million and talks on exports of up to $5 billion are expected.”

Foreign defense systems on display include the F-15K combat fighter, B787 Dreamliner and AH-64 Apache Longbow attack helicopter built by Boeing; F-16 Fighting Falcon and a mockup of the F-35 fighter from Lockheed Martin; and a mockup of Global Hawk, Northrop Grumman’s unmanned aerial reconnaissance vehicle.

Visitors will also be able to see leading domestic weapons systems, such as the T-50, K-9, Surion, K-10 ammunition resupply vehicle, K21 infantry fighting vehicle, K1A1 tank, as well as surface-to-air missiles Cheonma and Biho.

In addition, this year's Seoul Air Show will present professional aerobatic flights by the Black Eagles, Korea’s only acrobatic team with T-50 jets, and Australian stunt pilot Paul Bennet, who flies the Pitts Special S1-S aerobatic bi-plane.

Demonstration flights will take place throughout the event with the KT-1 plane, Surion, A-10 thunderbolt jet, AH-64, C-17 Globemaster transport aircraft, KF-16 and F-15K fighters.

Various international conferences will be held on the sideline of the six-day event in an effort to identify technology trends in the global aerospace and defense industries.

PanOrient News