At the 16th specialized exhibition for defense products and services “Hemus 2024”, which has been held for 29 years in our country, a number of technological achievements can be seen in the field of autonomous surveillance systems, cyber security, artificial intelligence, border security, strategic communications.
Today, the 20th international scientific conference organized by the Defense Institute “Prof. Tsvetan Lazarov“, demonstration shootings at the “Zmeyovo“ and demonstration events of the types of armed forces.
„The igniting of new military conflicts in different parts of the world and the full-scale war of attrition between Russia and Ukraine are confronting the defense industry and science with new unknown challenges. Both with the lack of sufficient capacity to produce the necessary quantities of military munitions, and with the rapid invasion and collision of new technologies and artificial intelligence on the battlefield, which lead to a high asymmetric effect. The high level of security can only be achieved by joining the efforts of the EU and NATO countries and our partners”, said the President of Bulgaria Rumen Radev during the official opening ceremony of the exhibition.
A total of 147 companies from 25 countries present their latest achievements in the defense industry. This is nearly 60% more compared to the previous exhibition, held 3 years ago, the organizers note.
Among the companies with the most experience in the field of air and coast guard is the Norwegian Kongsberg. It features an air defense system NASAMS and a coast guard system NSM CDS. The NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) air defense system is the world's first operational, networked, short-to-medium range ground-based air defense system. The system provides effective protection against unmanned aircraft, drones, helicopters, missiles, armored personnel carriers and aircraft. It protects strategic targets such as airports, ports, cities and other valuable assets very effectively.
„In a critical time, the ideal product is one that can be reliably, quickly and easily delivered, ideally the ideal product is ready on the shelf. NASAM is such a system” – says Vidar Skelstad, Vice President of Strategic Campaigns, Integrated Defense Systems at Kongsberg.
Opportunities and solutions in the field of defense are presented by KNDS – association of the German company Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and the French company Nexter. One of them is the CAESAR self-propelled howitzer, with 6×6 and 8×8 drive.
At the stand of the Ministry of Defense, visitors can familiarize themselves with the new communication strategy. “We are showing our new branding, which allows us to position ourselves better in the information space and to be able to reflect all the attacks that are increasingly common in the information space”, said Anita Pashova, head of the “Planning” department. in the MoD. The aim is for the information center to be a real center for strategic communications, which provides accurate and even anticipatory information for and from the Bulgarian army.
„The idea is for the center to better position the Bulgarian army in the minds of the public, so that we gain support for the Bulgarian army”.
Another important point that was discussed during the exhibition and which was touched upon by Minister Atanas Zapryanov during the official opening of “Hemus 2024” was the strengthening of the European defense industry through the common procurement act EDIRPA. The program dates from 2022, but it was not until mid-March that the European Commission adopted the work program and launched the corresponding calls for proposals. The budget of the program is EUR 310 million. It supports procurement in three areas: Munitions (eg small arms, artillery ammunition, mortars, missiles), air and missile defense and platforms and legacy systems replacement.