At the Dubai International Airshow, set against the stark backdrop of the desert, a retired Australian military officer will represent the country’s pavilion, lending “the key credibility of being in uniform” to Australian defence companies promoting their products. According to briefing notes from Team Defence Australia, this presence offers “a unique advantage in attracting and engaging with visiting military delegations.”
The annual airshow, which begins Monday, markets itself as a platform for “cutting-edge military aircraft and air defence technologies.” Team Defence Australia occupies a prime location within the exhibition, hosting more than 35 Australian companies—a positioning likely reflecting the strategic significance of the United Arab Emirates as a trading partner. Over the past five years, nearly $300 million worth of Australian arms and ammunition have been exported to the UAE, making it by far the country’s largest defence market.
Yet behind the marketing rhetoric, contentious issues remain largely unspoken. Within Australia, politicians, human rights advocates, and religious organisations have called for a halt to arms exports to the UAE, citing UN investigations indicating that weapons supplied to the country have ended up in the hands of militias accused of serious atrocities.
In particular, Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group has been implicated in campaigns of mass killings, rape, and torture, escalating after its capture of El Fasher in Darfur last month. Despite a communications blackout, satellite imagery has reportedly confirmed widespread casualties. According to UN reports, the RSF—once aligned with, but now opposed to, the Sudanese government—has acquired “sophisticated weaponry” from the UAE via Chad and Libya, which has been used in attacks targeting non-Arab Sudanese communities.
While Australian government data show $288 million in arms and ammunition exports to the UAE over the past five years, the records provide little clarity on the specific types or quantities of weapons supplied. Nonetheless, the UAE remains the dominant destination for Australian defence exports, with UN Comtrade statistics noting USD $197 million in “arms and ammunition, parts and accessories” shipped from Australia during the same period.
