Held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates

IDEX, International Defence Exhibition, Abu Dhabi IDEX 2027 18th International Defence Exhibition Book stand space Menu

18th edition

Land, sea and air.
One venue. Five days.

25–29 January 2027  /  ADNEC Centre, Abu Dhabi

The only tri-service defence exhibition in the Middle East. Every capability a modern force buys, in one building, in one week.

Book stand space Register to attend
The main hall at IDEX, ADNEC Abu Dhabi, with a full-size missile suspended above a crowded exhibition floor Self-propelled artillery and armoured vehicles in the outdoor display area, with Capital Gate behind A UAE Navy corvette under way at sea with a fast patrol boat alongside, at NAVDEX A packed concourse at IDEX with thousands of visitors filling the exhibition halls

Opens in

IDEX 2027 opens on 25 January 2027.

  • Stand space remaining30% of the floor
  • Visitor registrationOpens September 2026
  • Media accreditationOpens November 2026

Take part

Four ways in, and each has its own door.

An exhibitor, a trade visitor, an official delegation and a press office need completely different things from this site. None of them should have to hunt.

An armoured personnel carrier on the exhibition floor with two visitors talking beside it

01 / Exhibit

Book stand space

Shell scheme, space-only and chalet options across the halls, the marina and the outdoor demonstration area. Hall and position are allocated in booking order.

Reserve space70% already booked
Trade visitors examining an uncrewed aerial system at an exhibitor stand

02 / Visit

Register to attend

Free registration for defence, security and government professionals. Every application is approved individually, and IDEX is not open to the general public.

Check who can attendOpens September 2026
Three delegates studying a scale terrain model of an air-defence deployment at a national pavilion

03 / Delegations

Official delegations

Protocol, invitations, the VIP programme and military attaché liaison, coordinated with the Ministry of Defence. In 2025 IDEX received 55 heads of delegation, 48 ambassadors and 65 attachés.

Protocol officeBy invitation
A session under way on the IDEX Talks stage in front of a seated audience

04 / Media

Press accreditation

Press passes, filming permits and the media centre, for accredited defence and trade press.

Apply for accreditationOpens November 2026

The last edition

The largest IDEX ever held.

In February 2025 the exhibition filled 181,501 square metres and closed AED 25.15 billion in announced agreements over five days. Every figure below is the organiser's own, published in full.

A packed concourse at IDEX 2025 with thousands of visitors filling the exhibition halls
206,073Visitors Up 55.5% on 2023. 57% from outside the UAE, representing 167 countries.
1,565Exhibiting companies From 65 countries, in 41 national pavilions. 731 exhibited for the first time.
25.15bnDirhams in agreements 55 deals across five days, up 10% on 2023. 68% awarded to Emirati companies.
181,501Square metres Up 10% on 2023, across the halls, the marina and the outdoor areas.
+63Visitor satisfactionAgainst a global event average of +29
+34Exhibitor satisfactionAgainst a global event average of +8

Source: ADNEC Group closing release, 21 February 2025. Verified 23 August 2026.

What tri-service means

Four domains under one roof.

Most defence exhibitions specialise in one. IDEX puts land, sea, air and CBRNE capability in the same building in the same week, which is why delegations arrive as joint teams rather than single-service buyers.

A UAE Navy corvette under way at sea with a fast patrol boat alongside

Naval

Surface, sub-surface and port security, alongside NAVDEX on the ADNEC Marina with vessels in the water.

NAVDEX / ADNEC Marina A stealth uncrewed combat aircraft on a lit plinth with Emirati visitors beside it

Aerospace

Rotary, fixed-wing, uncrewed systems, counter-UAS and space-based surveillance.

156 start-ups exhibited in 2025 Self-propelled artillery and armoured vehicles in the outdoor display area with Capital Gate behind

Land

Armoured platforms, artillery, soldier systems and logistics, with live demonstrations outside the halls.

Outdoor demonstration area The CBRNE Hub pavilion with response personnel and decontamination equipment

CBRNE

Detection, protection and response for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive threats.

Dedicated CBRNE Hub

The week

Five programmes run alongside the floor.

Each has its own audience and its own access rules. Where a programme needs a separate ticket, it says so here rather than three clicks in.

NAVDEX

The naval defence exhibition, on the ADNEC Marina with vessels in the water. Ninth edition.

Included International Defence Conference

Policy sessions at ministerial and chief-of-staff level. More than 1,800 delegates attended in 2025.

Separate ticket IDEX NXT

The innovation zone for start-ups, research institutions and future concepts.

Included IDEX & NAVDEX Talks

Open sessions with policymakers, researchers and industry leaders, running throughout the week.

Included CBRNE Hub and Innovation Trail

A dedicated CBRNE zone, and a curated route through the halls linking the most significant products.

Included

30% of the floor remains

Stand allocation closes before the build period.

Seventy per cent of the 2027 floor was reserved before the 2025 edition had even closed. Hall and position are allocated in the order bookings are received.

Enquire about stand space Download the floor plan
Delegates beneath the wing of an uncrewed aerial vehicle on the exhibition floor

Organised by

A government exhibition, run commercially.

OrganiserADNEC Group
In association withUAE Ministry of Defence
In association withTawazun Council
Strategic partnerEDGE Group

Higher Organising Committee chaired by His Excellency Major General Pilot Faris Khalaf Al Mazrouei.