IDEF’21 will be organized from August 17 to 20, 2021, under the auspices of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey, hosted by Ministry of National Defense, under the management and responsibility of the Turkish Armed Forces Foundation and organized by TÜYAP Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc. at TÜYAP Fair Convention and Congress Center. The event will host over 1,170 exhibitors from Turkey and worldwide, including 23 Ukrainian companies.
State-owned companies from Ukraine will exhibit under the roof of their holding company, Ukroboronprom. These are the government licensed arms dealers Ukrspecexport, Specialized Export/Import Trade Firm Progres, and SpetsTechnoExport; Artem JSHC, State Enterprise “Arsenal”, Aircraft Repair Plant “Aviacon” of Konotop, Iskra R&D and Production Complex, Morozov Design Bureau, Kharkiv Engine Design Bureau, Malyshev Factory, Zavod Mayak JSC, State Enterprise “Mayak-Perspektiva”, R&D and Manufacturing Complex Progres, Ship R&D Center, Scientific Research Instutute for Chemical Products and Zorya-Mashproekt gas turbine maker.
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Among Ukrainian Private Sector exhibitors will be Motor-Sich, FED, Aerotechnika-MLT, Inspetsprom JSC and SpetsTechnoMash, which will exhibit at their respective separate booths.
There is no information available to date on what products will be on the Ukrainian display.
The number of exhibitors is expected to increase as the exhibition opening date draws nearer.
Around 120 delegations have confirmed they will attend the event, and some three dozen foreign ministerial officials have been invited to attend as guests of honor.
Aside from the ministerial officials, the delegations to attend the fair include many senior officials at the level of Chief of Staff, Land Forces Commander, Naval Forces Commander, Air Force Commander, Deputy Chief of General Staff, Deputy Minister, Gendarmerie General Commander, Chief of Police, Coast Guard Commander and Undersecretary.
The increase in the interest of senior officials responsible for defense procurement in the fair this year already informs that IDEF'21 will be very productive and reach its goals.
The previous edition of IDEF was held in 2019, attended by 588 high-level officials in 150 delegations from 70 countries and three international organizations. The exhibition featured displays of 1,061 companies from 53 countries. It hosted 76,010 professional visitors from 96 countries, and press members from 26 countries.
DE memo: Military-technology cooperation (MTC) between Ukraine and Turkey has gained momentum over the years that passed between the IDEF 2019 and IDEF 2021 defense industry fairs. This is not surprising since value-creating cooperation, driven personally by presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, is beneficial to the strategic interests of both countries.
A Turkish visit paid in October 2020 by a Ukrainian delegation led by President Zelenskyy, of which Minister of Defense Andrii Taran was a member among other high-level officials, marked a major breakthrough in Ukraine-Turkey MTC. The visit ended with the signing of a number of bilateral documents. Thus, in particular, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Andrii Taran and the head of the Turkish Defense Industries Presidency Ismail Demir signed a Memorandum of Intent regarding defense-industrial collaboration on warships, UAVs and gas turbine engines.
Further, the Ukraine Minister of Defense Andrii Taran and the Republic of Turkey Minister of National Defense Hulusi Akar signed a framework defense cooperation Agreement between the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the Government of the Republic of Turkey.
Cooperation between Ukraine and Turkey has been driven personally by Presidents Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, in early July 2021, gave its nod to a bill on ratifying the framework agreement on defense cooperation with Turkey, which is now awaiting adoption by Ukrainian Parliament, the Verkhova Rada. The Agreement identifies 21 areas for defense cooperation between Kyiv and Ankara. These include, but are not limited to military training, arms development and production, the exchange of classified military information, peacekeeping operations, countering piracy, as well as defense-related R&D and production. Ukrainian and Turkish expert communities share a common view that this deal is establishing "a base for cooperation that offers great potentialities for both countries”.
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