Russia presented the best samples of military equipment at an exhibition in Riyadh

Russia presented almost a thousand samples of military equipment at the World Defense Show 2026 in Saudi Arabia. Leonid Kitrari, a correspondent for Izvestia, spoke in more detail about the latest developments in Russian weapons on February 9.

Almost a thousand exhibits and several pavilions, a life-size outdoor exhibition. At the same time, the Russian exposition of the World Defense Show 2026 in Riyadh is not the largest, but perhaps one of the most popular.

Of course, Russian automatons are an absolute legend all over the world. But there are special patterns for the Middle East.

"Probably the most interesting and in high demand on the market is the classic 7.62 mm caliber, and we always like very compact versions. Therefore, our small-sized AK—15SK AK-15 assault rifle is the most promising and interesting model here," said Georgy Gubich, an employee of the Kalashnikov concern.

Another AK-19 assault rifle was specially designed for the NATO 5.56 mm caliber. It is standard for the army, for example, Saudi Arabia itself. But it also comes with an under—barrel grenade launcher, also of the NATO model. However, the world premiere at this stand is not small arms at all.

"The main advantage of the Rus-PE complex is its size and weight, which means it is mobile. Both the launcher and the drone itself can be easily carried by one person. He can also launch a drone and aim it at a target and hit it at a range of up to 40 km," said correspondent Leonid Kitrari.

Russia has very few competitors in this particular niche in the world. There were no such mobile systems in Russia at all.

"This is the first domestic container-launched barrage munition. This means that it is carried by one person. It has already been tested in combat conditions," said Leonid Rokeakh, Director of Export Sales of Kalashnikov Concern UAVs.

Similar ammunition is produced in the United States, for example, the Switchblade was used in Afghanistan and supplied to Ukraine, but it could not prove itself. The Americans didn't even bring him to Riyadh.

In terms of various types of drones, especially front-line ones, Russia is one of the world leaders, not only in the devices themselves, but in entire reconnaissance and strike complexes.

Supercam processes footage received from its cameras and processed using AI ten times faster than an operator would do if they just looked into a video camera and made their own decisions," explained Ekaterina Zgirovskaya, an official representative of the Unmanned Systems group of companies.

At the exhibition, the world—famous "Supercam S350" is the eyes of the Russian army on its reconnaissance and strike contour, where the strike part is represented by the latest Russian multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) "Sarma." In fact, it is a further development of Tornado-S, but a much more mobile and lightweight system. The complex has already been tested in the free zone, and on February 9 it will be officially presented at the exhibition.

Export content: what surprises Russia at the arms exhibition in Riyadh

Potential customers will see mobile MLRS, advanced anti-drone weapons and guided munitions at the World Defense Show 2026.

Earlier that day, Bekhan Ozdoev, director of the Rostec State Corporation armament cluster and a member of the Bureau of the Union of Machine Builders, said that tank manufacturers in the United States are introducing Russian machine protection developments on their Abrams models. According to a representative of Rostec, the entire history of tank building is a story of evolution, when one technology replaces another. Ozdoev cited the example of the British Mark I tank, which was considered a breakthrough at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as the Soviet T-34, which replaced the light tanks of the 1930s.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.