DUBAI, November 14. /TASS/ Military-technical cooperation with African nations has become more intensive after the Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg. Potential partners plan both to buy Russian arms and localize their production, Rosoboronexport CEO Alexander Mikheev told TASS at the Dubai Airshow.

"The previous summit in Sochi brought us over 11 billion dollars in signed and paid contracts. This year in St. Petersburg, we held major consultations with heads of state and defense ministers. They continued after the summit and revealed major demand for various hardware," he said adding some countries are interested in naval hardware, others in air defense or firearms. "There is a production localization trend, including joint ventures for maintenance and services," Mikheev said.

"The talk is about munitions and the possibility of using our armored platforms by local companies that produce units and mechanisms, have casting and processing technologies and industrial competences. Everybody wants to earn added value and decrease unemployment," he said.

Africa is developing economically and many sovereign countries revise their capabilities in the combat readiness of the armed forces, he added.

The Dubai Airshow is one of the world’s largest aerospace exhibitions held once every two years. Russia has been a participant in Dubai shows since 1993. This year, 20 national pavilions at the Dubai Airshow are demonstrating over 180 fixed-and rotary-wing aircraft of more than 1,400 producers. The Dubai aerospace show is running on November 13-17.