At ADEX, Azerbaijan sells itself as an arms producer, not just a buyer

The sixth Azerbaijan International Defence Exhibition, ADEX 2026, opened at the Baku Expo Center on 30 September and closed on 2 October. Its message was set out by President Ilham Aliyev in his address to participants: "the quality and reliability of Azerbaijan's defense industry products are highly appreciated at the international level". The Baku daily Azernews put it more bluntly in its account of the show: "Azerbaijan was the one selling." That is overstated, since Baku also signed new purchases. But the shift from importer to producer is real, and it changes the military balance in the South Caucasus in ways a peace treaty will not reverse.

What was signed in Baku

The largest package came from Turkey. Haluk Görgün, head of Turkey's Presidency of Defence Industries, said contracts worth more than $500m had been signed, Daily Sabah reports. They cover 14 Hürkuş-II trainer aircraft from Turkish Aerospace, which he said would be delivered "very quickly this year"; Mızrak loitering munitions and Antidot systems from Baykar; and Roketsan's Barbaros coastal defence system. Aselsan signed a memorandum on ALP-100 radars and a preliminary agreement with Azerbaijan's NOVASIS to set up a factory in Nakhchivan. Other agreements cover joint engineering training and logistics support.

The second notable deal was European. Czechoslovak Group (CSG) announced a second joint venture in Azerbaijan, to be set up in December 2026 with an unnamed local partner, to localise production of self-propelled howitzers from 2027 and transfer technology and know-how, Report says. CSG values the opportunity at €1.8bn over seven years but will not disclose the howitzer types or volumes. Its first joint venture, VEXA DS, announced in April, repairs and modernises armoured vehicles.

The exhibitor list read as a map of Baku's supplier relationships. Azernews lists Turkish firms as the largest group, alongside Israel's IAI, Rafael and Elbit, the UAE's EDGE, Germany's Rheinmetall, Britain's BAE Systems, China's AVIC and Norinco, and, for the first time, major US contractors including Lockheed Martin. Russia's Rosoboronexport brought the Lancet-E loitering munition, the Pantsir-S1M air defence system, the Iskander-E missile system and the Su-35 fighter, according to the company's announcement. Counts of participation differ: Trend reported more than 270 companies from 29 countries and 45 delegations from 33 countries at the opening; Azernews later gave 277 companies from 30 countries and 59 delegations from 39 countries.

China's AVIC displayed a full-scale J-10CE replica in Azerbaijani Air Force markings. Azernews notes that Azerbaijan has already inducted JF-17 Block III jets, but stresses that nothing in Baku's or Beijing's public statements confirms a purchase agreement and that "a livery-marked replica is a sales pitch, not a signed contract".

From buyer to builder

The more lasting change is industrial. Azersilah, the defence industry holding created by decree in 2023, anchored a national pavilion for the first time. Officials say Azerbaijan now makes more than 1,000 types of military products and exports them to more than 30 countries, Azernews reports; those figures come from the government and have not been independently verified. The Turkish and Czech deals both include local production and training, not just delivery.

This matters for three reasons. First, localised production reduces Azerbaijan's exposure to supply interruptions and export licence decisions in other capitals. Second, it gives Turkey a deeper industrial stake in Azerbaijan, through factories and engineering programmes, on top of the political alliance. Third, the presence of Russian, Chinese, Israeli and Western suppliers at one fair shows that Baku has kept every channel open while it builds its own base. Azernews itself reads the Russian stand as a reminder that Baku's defence diplomacy "runs through Moscow as readily as through Washington or Ankara".

Georgia in the triangle, Armenia on another track

On the last day of the fair, the defence ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and Georgia, Zakir Hasanov, Yaşar Güler and Irakli Chikovani, held their 13th trilateral meeting in Shusha and signed a protocol, Trend reports. The trilateral format links the transit corridor from the Caspian to Turkey with military cooperation; holding it in Shusha, in Karabakh, carries its own symbolism.

Armenia is diversifying in another direction. On 1 October India's defence secretary, Rajesh Kumar Singh, said Armenia was the first export customer for the Akash air defence system and "has taken multiple batteries", BusinessLine reports. On 29 September the chief of Armenia's General Staff, Edvard Asryan, discussed armed forces reform and expanded cooperation with a senior Polish officer, according to the defence ministry. These are steps away from reliance on Russia rather than a matching industrial effort; Armenia has no counterpart to the scale of Turkish and Czech localisation now under way in Azerbaijan.

The border incident

The fair coincided with a reminder of how fragile the line between the two states remains. Armenia's National Security Service said Azerbaijan had informed it on 29 September that a soldier had gone absent and might have crossed into Armenia. On 1 October a woman, 39 according to Armenpress and 38 according to RFE/RL, was shot in the leg in her home in Shaki, in Syunik province; the soldier, identified by Armenian prosecutors as Nasimi Musayev, was arrested shortly afterwards and has been charged with offences including illegal border crossing and firearms smuggling, Armenpress reports. Azerbaijan's Prosecutor-General's Office said he deserted a base in the Lachin district on 26 September and that it remains in contact with the Armenian side, RFE/RL reports. Two of the woman's children were also treated for injuries.

Both governments handled the case through official channels, which is itself a sign of change. But Armenian opposition groups criticised the lack of warnings to border villages, and the episode shows how quickly a single armed individual can become a political issue on a militarised border between two states that have yet to sign a peace treaty.

What it means

Arms build-ups and peace processes can coexist, and the incident in Shaki was handled without escalation. But the trend is clear. Azerbaijan is converting a wartime advantage into a durable industrial one, built mainly with Turkey and increasingly with European partners. For Armenia, the relevant question is less which systems it buys than whether its partners will help it build anything at home. For outside suppliers, ADEX showed that Baku's market is open to all of them, on the condition that production moves to Azerbaijan.

Sources

• Daily Sabah — Türkiye inks over $500M in defense contracts with Azerbaijan
• Report.az — Czech company, together with Azerbaijani partner, to manufacture self-propelled howitzers
• Trend — Quality of Azerbaijan's defense industry products is highly appreciated at the international level - President Ilham Aliyev
• Azernews — ADEX shows how Azerbaijan is rewriting its defence strategy
• Defensehere — Russia's Rosoboronexport to showcase latest weapons at ADEX 2026
• Trend — Shusha hosts trilateral meeting of Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Georgia defense chiefs
• BusinessLine — After Armenia, India exports Akash Air Defence System to Tajikistan and Turkmenistan: Defence secretary
• Armenpress — Armenia, Poland top brass discuss cooperation and reforms
• Armenpress — Azerbaijani serviceman charged with two additional offenses over shooting of Armenian woman, illegal border crossing
• RFE/RL Armenian Service (Azatutyun) — Azeri Soldier Captured In Armenia