Most times, the simple combination of guns and the Middle East creates another simple combination of fear and panic. Contrary to popular belief, however, the Middle East is not a hotbed of terrorist activity where every child is exposed to anti-Western propaganda from a young age and raised with a bloodlust for the American infidels. Give an Emirati a gun (gasp!) and he will not shoot you outright. In fact, his reaction will likely be like that of any other man in Middle America: a grin will spread across his face and he will lower his eye to the scope, squinting, thinking he is John Rambo. If it’s a handgun, he’ll pop the magazine in and out just to hear the satisfying click of the metal. This masculine obsession with “toys” is universal and so it’s unsurprising that Abu Dhabi hosts a convention called “Big Boy Toys” in which vendors from all over show off their newest and coolest gadgets for dudes with disposable income to stuff their garages with.
But that’s not the convention I went to.
I went to IDEX (International Defense Exhibition and Conference), also held in Abu Dhabi. This event is the Middle East’s largest exposition of arms dealers, all presenting their wares for the serious buyer and seriously curious student alike. I, along with two friends, applied for passes to IDEX at the recommendation of Pat Gordon, my friend in Abu Dhabi. With our nametages confidently hung around our necks, Nick, Richard, and
I descended the escalator into the cavernous exhibition hall, unsure of what to expect.
What we found was similar to how I remember the Portland Auto Show, when I used to visit with my father. Each hall is divided into sections. In Portland, each section represented an automaker, but here, each category was a different country. Instead of the brand’s various models, each area featured arms dealers based in a specific nation. The first one we visited was Germany. Because I am an American, I inherently have difficulty pronouncing – much less remembering – foreign names. Therefore, I have no clue which company’s booth we visited first but I do remember the equipment.
I had a long conversation with Hans (or Nils, or Helmut, or whatever the heck his name was) about his company’s high-tech sensors. In the succession of war-equipment, sensors are pretty boring. They don’t go boom and manning them generally means you are far away from the action. However, when you consider their capabilities, they are pretty darn cool. This particular model – the top of the line not just for its manufacturer, but for the whole industry – is capable of just about everything except launching an attack. Using thermal, infrared, and high-res cameras as well as radar, it is able to pick up a target either by its profile (it can recognize what a helicopter looks like, for example) or by its heat signature. It can then track the target as it moves and while it does that, pinpoints its location on a map. The latter bit doesn’t sound so impressive until you consider that it is essentially plotting the objects location on a map hundreds of times per second. It’s the equivalent of a person watching a basketball game from the bench while simultaneously picturing the position of players from a birds-eye-view. The system then can communicate all information about the target’s movement, position, profile, etc to a command center or directly to an attack force. Then, boom. Off goes a rocket/missile/warhead and the problem is solved.
Another highlight of the conference was German booth selling rocket launchers, including one designed for anti-tank purposes. While the booth was small, it was notable that it was located directly adjacent to another German company selling, of all things, tanks. The irony was probably lost on the professionals in attendance. Rocket launchers of today are not designed to knock-out tanks, generally. Instead, they are designed and promoted as good defense against, of all things, pirates. In what was a surprising twist, I quickly caught on that one of the watchwords in the defense industry today is pirates. With the world’s shipping and cruise industry gripped by fear of being hijacked by wild Somali pirates, a market has opened up for creative ways of repelling/killing the attackers. Rocket launchers are included in this strategy. My favorite part of my conversation with this particular purveyor was his presentation of his company’s anti-bunker rocket launcher.
“Zis varhead vas developed by zis company and iz called ze Bunkerfaust. It does not destroy ze bunker but instead contains thousands of little pee-sez zat are released at high velocity when ze varhead explodes, killing every-vun inside”
In a twisted way, it was refreshing to see that nobody was beating around the bush as to why they were there. In many cases, the vendors are selling weapons that are ultimately designed to kill people. Sure there are the sensors, and the EOD devices, and the minesweepers, and the odd tactical trainer but if you’re selling weapons you’re like any other salesman and want to explain why your product is the best choice for the task at hand, especially if that task is killing bad guys.
Not long after, the three of us got a hot tip about the demonstration going on outside and so we hustled our way to the exit to catch a glimpse of what all the noise was coming from. Outside, we found the live demo area. Each company that is featured at IDEX can bring their wares to display and if you are an auto outfitter/manufacturer, you want to display your work in action. This means proving that your tanks can climb a 30 degree slope at 40 miles per hour and that yes, in fact your tricked-out Nissan Xterra can ford four and a half feet of water. To facilitate this, IDEX featured what looked like a BMX track in front of large outdoor grandstands. Across the dirt heaps, tanks, APCs, cars, bikes, ATVs and anything with two, four, six, or eight wheels trundled, flew, flipped, jumped, careened, and plowed from left to right. As the vehicles paraded across the uneven terrain, a stunt team of riders put their motocross bikes through their paces, flying high above the other vehicles. In the sky, a team of professional skydivers criss-crossed, landing with precision between the crowd and the melee of engines. Once the air was clear of parachutists, a jet flyover screamed through, drowning out all earthly sounds with its roar.
Back inside, we continued to wander the booths, trying out Lockheed Martin’s simulated rocket launcher, holding guns, talking with one of iRobot’s (think The Hurt Locker) head engineers, and sitting in large armored personnel carriers (“Shut the door! We don’t want anyone sneaking up and taking pictures of our interiors. The Koreans are at the booth next to ours and they’ll reverse-engineer everything!”). We made our way to NAVDEX (IDEX for naval ships) and walked around some of the ships. I was unimpressed but we were running out of time and didn’t get to see enough to do it justice. Towards the end of the day, we ventured into the Eastern European/Russian/Asian section of the expo center.
This presented one of the more disturbing features of IDEX. One Russian booth featured a very humble display, consisting of a TV screen running an animated video on a loop. Nearby, a stack of brochures sat in hodge-podge fashion as if they’d gotten a lot of attention throughout the hectic day. There were no attendants at the booth but a crowd had gathered in the walkway and was watching the TV. The film was a crummy production with no sound but what it presented was chilling. In it, a train is shown rumbling across a tiaga landscape. It stops and a moment later, one of the cargo containers rises up, as if being lifted by an invisible hand. Just as magically, the end of the container slides away, revealing four rocket tubes. In quick succession, the projectiles are fired and the cover slides back into place. The container lowers itself back onto its railcar and the train moves off. The scenario is repeated again on a container ship and even from a flatbed truck. As the film ended, the crowd moved hurriedly for brochures. This seemed like a topic that needed more attention.
Brochure bags in hand, we made our way back to the parking structure as the vendors packed up their booths. IDEX had been interesting. It was medieval. It was barbaric and hollow. It was merchants of death peddling their wares to the highest bidder. It was a devaluation of human life but at the same time, it was commerce. It was industry. It was national security and the pinnacle of man’s technological achievements. Above all, it was reality. Might may not make right, but its influence is undeniable.
did you see my fists there?
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