The 8th International Maritime Defense Show will open in St. Petersburg on June 28, 2017.

The International Maritime Defense Show (the IMDS) is a naval exhibition. It has been held on the premises of the Lenexpo exhibition center, at the quays of the Sea Terminal and the adjacent area in St. Petersburg once every two years since 2003

This year, the naval show has been organized by the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry. The exhibition’s operator is Morskoi Salon Co. Ltd. The IMDS-2017 will be held with the participation of the Defense Ministry of Russia, the Foreign Ministry of Russia, the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, the St. Petersburg Government and state arms seller Rosoboronexport. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin is the head of the IMDS-2017 Organizing Committee.

The IMDS’s analogues abroad are the Euronaval (France) and the IMDEX Asia (Singapore) naval shows.

The forum’s themes and format

The forum holds workshops and roundtable discussions and demonstrates military products made by Russian and foreign companies. The IMDS covers such areas as naval and civil shipbuilding, armaments and promising technologies, naval aviation, fleet infrastructure, shipborne propulsion units, combat control, navigation and communications systems and other defense products.

The IMDS format covers congress and business events and the exposition section, demonstrations in the water area, demonstration flights and firings, and also participants’ visits to shipyards and other enterprises.

Naval show’s history

The International Maritime Defense Show was held for the first time on June 25-29, 2003. It was attended by over 9,000 specialists, 319 enterprises (including 52 companies from 22 foreign countries) and 26 official delegations from 24 countries. At the weekend, about 75,000 St. Petersburg residents and guests visited the naval show.

The 2nd IMDS was held on June 29 - July 3, 2005. About 19,800 specialists from 352 organizations, including 56 foreign companies from 20 countries and 28 delegations from 26 countries participated in the exhibition. A sailing race was held for the first time as part of the naval show.

The 3rd naval show that was held on June 27 - July 1, 2007 involved the participation of over 23,000 specialists from 383 companies, including 65 foreign organizations from 28 countries. The naval show was attended by 50 official delegations from 44 countries.

The 4th IMDS was held on June 24-28 2009. The naval show’s participants comprised 350 enterprises, including 67 foreign companies from 28 countries.

The 5th IMDS was held on June 29 - July 3, 2011 and involved the participation of 409 enterprises, including 71 companies from 29 foreign countries, and also 91 official delegations from 68 countries. At the weekend, the naval show was visited by about 40,000 people.

The 6th IMDS was held on July 3-7, 2013 and was attended by over 48,000 specialists of 457 enterprises (including 89 foreign companies from 31 countries) and 75 delegations from 51 countries.

The 7th IMDS was held on July 1-5, 2015. It involved the participation of over 360 enterprises, including 37 foreign companies. Russia’s Krylov State Research Center demonstrated its model of a cutting-edge Project 23000E (Shtorm) aircraft carrier while the Kalashnikov small arms producer exhibited a combat group of amphibious assault boats developed by the company on its own initiative.

As part of the IMDS-2015, defense contractors transferred the third Project 06363 diesel-electric (B-262 Stary Oskol) submarine to the Russian Navy for its operation in the Black Sea Fleet, and also a Project 21820 amphibious assault boat Denis Davydov for the Baltic Fleet.

The aerobatic teams Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights), Strizhi (Swifts) and Rus (Rus’) performed demonstration flights before the naval show’s guests. Summing up the results of the IMDS-2015, Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Viktor Chirkov said that the nuclear submarine fleet was a priority in the Russian Navy’s shipbuilding program. The admiral also said that after 2020 the Russian Navy planned to build and equip the fleet with new large amphibious assault ships capable of carrying helicopters on their board.

IMDS-2017

The 8th International Maritime Defense Show will be held on June 28 - July 2, 2017. During the first three days, the naval show will be open only for specialists and at the weekend (July 1-2) it will open for the

public. A total of 400 companies, including 49 foreign businesses, are expected to take part in the exhibition’s events. The naval show has also registered 47 official foreign delegations from 40 countries. The exhibition’s Russian participants include the United Shipbuilding Corporation, hi-tech group Rostec, state arms seller Rosoboronexport, the research and production association Avrova, the Krylov State Research Center, Tactical Missiles Corporation, Almaz-Antey air defense system manufacturer and others.

The United Shipbuilding Corporation will demonstrate 43 warship mock-ups at its stand while about 50 full-scale hardware items - warships, boats and vessels of the Navy, the Border Guard Service of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) and the naval show’s participating enterprises - will be featured at the quays of the Sea Terminal and in the adjacent area.

Specifically, the naval show’s guests will be able to see the Project 11356 frigate Admiral Makarov (currently under state trials), the Project 11540 guard ship Yaroslav Mudry, the Project 20380 corvette Stoiky, the Project 127000 base-type minesweeper Alexander Obukhov and other exhibits. Also, ten seaborne artillery systems and small arms will be demonstrated to official foreign delegations and media representatives at the Russian Defense Ministry’s Rzhevsky practice range outside St. Petersburg.

As Russian Presidential Aide for Military and Technical Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin said, a number of finalized contracts are expected to be signed at the naval show.