Washington DC, United States — In spite of escalating instability in the Middle East, several American defense firms have reaffirmed their commitment to attending the upcoming Dubai Airshow, which is being held from Nov. 13-17, media reports said.
The Dubai Airshow, to be held at Maktoum International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, is a biennial event and ranks among the world’s largest and most significant aerospace exhibitions.
It traditionally features a strong commercial emphasis alongside the defense sector’s prominent presence.
Several prominent American defense companies slated to attend the Dubai Airshow communicated their unchanged plans to Breaking Defense.
While not an exhaustive survey of the more than 100 American companies scheduled to participate, larger defense corporations often set the tone for the event’s attendance, Breaking Defense reported.
L3Harris told Breaking Defense, “We’re monitoring current events like all our industry peers and have not scaled back our planned attendance.”
Boeing, renowned for its substantial presence at air shows and competition with Airbus for commercial orders, echoed this sentiment, affirming, “We have not made any changes in our plans for the Dubai Airshow.”
Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest defense contractor, did not explicitly address whether they had scaled back their attendance but emphasized their commitment to employee safety and active monitoring of security threats.
Meanwhile, defense giants RTX, GE Aerospace, and Airbus did not respond to requests for comment at the time of reporting, Breaking Defense said.
Northrop Grumman, which typically abstains from international trade shows, had not announced its intention to participate in the Dubai Airshow.
Smaller companies still plan to attend as well. Defense tech firm Anduril is still proceeding as planned, according to a spokesperson, while a General Atomics spokesperson said the company will still be in force at the show, according to Breaking Defense.
