China - Iran - UAE showcase defense products innovations at Belgrade's Partner 2025 in Serbia.

China, Iran, and the UAE are spotlighting their defense industries at Serbia’s Partner 2025 expo in Belgrade. Their presence signals shifting global alliances and growing competition in the international arms market.

Organizers confirmed that the international pavilion at Serbia’s Partner 2025 defense exhibition in Belgrade is drawing heightened global attention. China, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates have all secured prominent showcases, signaling ambitions to expand defense partnerships and influence in the global arms market. The display is significant because it highlights emerging shifts in international defense alignments and competition.
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Visitors gather at the China pavilion during Partner 2025 in Belgrade, where Chinese defense giants showcase advanced weapon systems, unmanned platforms, and sensor technologies, marking the largest foreign presence at the exhibition. (Picture source: Army Recognition Group)

Partner 2025 international defense exhibition plays a central role in Serbia’s efforts to establish itself as a crossroads in European and non-aligned defense diplomacy. The pavilion is designed to bring together foreign delegations and exhibitors from across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, providing them with a visible platform within Southeast Europe’s defense industry theater. The Office of the Fair confirms that over 200 exhibitors from more than 30 nations are participating.

In practice, the international pavilion is split into national pavilions or clusters by region, giving each state space to erect its brand, highlight flagship systems, and engage potential buyers or partners. In the current layout, China’s presence stands out as the largest non-European pavilion, while the UAE and Iran have negotiated compelling positions amid the regional balance.

China’s pavilion commands grave attention both in scale and in depth. Observers from multiple defense media note that the space occupied by China is among the largest national pavilions at Partner, rivaling that of regional powers. That scale is consistent with China’s broader exhibition strategy in 2025, as seen earlier at IDEX/NAVDEX, where Chinese defense firms displayed hundreds of weapons systems from advanced UAVs to air defense missiles and armored vehicles.

Inside the pavilion, Chinese firms such as Norinco, CATIC, Hubei Jiuzhiyang Infrared, and Shanghai Terjin are present, showcasing radar systems, unmanned platforms, advanced materials, communications gear, and next-generation sensors. Without full open data on Serbia’s deals, several Chinese systems seen in IDEX such as the SH16A wheeled self-propelled howitzer with unmanned turret are being circulated in Partner press materials.

The messaging from China’s pavilion emphasizes dual cooperation, technology transfer, and industrial partnership, ostensibly aiming to attract smaller countries in the Balkans and the nonaligned block. The footprint is as much diplomatic as commercial. Chinese delegates are making structured outreach to regional states attending Partner, carrying forward Beijing’s push to deepen defense-industrial ties outside Western architectures.

In effect, China’s pavilion acts as a showcase of full-spectrum capability across air, land, naval, electronic warfare, and unmanned systems, projecting China not just as a weapons provider, but as a strategic partner for nations pursuing defense autonomy beyond traditional Western suppliers.

Iran’s presence at Partner 2025 signals continued outreach into international defense markets, particularly in regions where cost-effective systems and alternative procurement frameworks are sought. The Iranian pavilion features a collection of systems tailored for asymmetric operations, including precision-guided munitions, unmanned aerial vehicles, electronic warfare suites, and tactical support equipment.

Among the most notable systems presented is the MIAAD 120 mm laser-guided mortar, designed for precision indirect fire missions in rugged or mobile operating environments. Delegations representing Iranian firms have been observed in side discussions with buyers from Africa, Central Asia, and the Middle East, underlining Iran’s strategy to engage with countries interested in affordable and easily deployable capabilities.

The layout of the pavilion emphasizes the country’s growing domestic production capacity and its ability to deliver independently developed technologies in defiance of supply chain constraints. The systems displayed also reflect Iran’s long-standing emphasis on self-reliance and rapid adaptability in contested or resource-constrained environments. Security around the booth remains tight, and access is moderated, but interest remains steady from delegations with limited access to Western or Eastern suppliers.

Iran’s presence in Belgrade reflects its aim to assert relevance in a shifting defense ecosystem where emerging powers seek to diversify their procurement and where low-cost innovation finds new value in evolving global conflicts.

The UAE’s international pavilion at Partner 2025 is anchored by EDGE Group, the country’s flagship advanced technology and defense conglomerate. This is EDGE’s first participation in Partner, marking a pivot toward Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans.

EDGE’s exhibit is clustered in Hall 2A, Stand 2211, showcasing unmanned aerial systems (UAVs), radar and electronic warfare suites, precision munitions, nonlethal systems, and counter-UAS platforms. Among the standout entries are the SHADOW 25 and SHADOW 50 loitering UAVs for rapid strike missions, the HT 100 VTOL UAV for ISR and logistics, and the RASH 1M, 2M, and 2H series of smart munitions.

Further highlights include the THUNDER guidance kits (P 31, P 32, P 34), KASHIF stabilization systems, and TAWAQ S and TAWAQ X 3D radars, alongside nonlethal solutions like CONDOR DROP and surveillance technologies such as COP EYE. These products reinforce EDGE’s branding as a provider of integrated, modular systems designed for hybrid conflict and expeditionary defense forces.

The pavilion includes interactive displays, offering operational demonstrations of UAV control consoles, jamming capabilities, and target acquisition modules. With a strong emphasis on co-production and export partnerships, EDGE is using Partner 2025 to initiate direct engagement with regional defense ministries, positioning the UAE as a rising hub for high-end defense tech outside the traditional West-East dichotomy.

By focusing on interoperability, technology transfer, and sovereign capability development, EDGE is effectively marketing the UAE as a strategic bridge for countries balancing between affordability, innovation, and regional autonomy in procurement.

The convergence of these three distinct players, China, Iran, and the UAE, within the international pavilion reveals an evolving contest of influence in global arms exhibitions. China arrives with breadth and strategic gravity, presenting itself as a systemic supplier with industrial leverage. The UAE, through EDGE, offers tailored innovation with modern aesthetics and battlefield adaptability. Iran demonstrates resilience and outreach, leveraging indigenous solutions designed for disruptive, low-cost conflict environments.

More broadly, the presence of these states at Partner 2025 defense exhibition encapsulates the new fluidity in global defense alignments. In an era when supply chains are fractured and geopolitical blocs redefined, countries are looking beyond legacy suppliers and considering new partnerships. The international pavilion thus serves not only as a marketplace of weapons systems but as a theatre of diplomacy, competition, and evolving global defense identities.