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23 - 26 May 2018
| 2018 saw the fifth edition of the Kazakhstan Defense Exhibition or KADEX. It was held from |
| 23 to 26 May at the military part of Astana International Airport. Seven huge exposition halls |
| have been erected to house this bi-annual event. The event appears to be getting bigger and bigger |
| every year, however, the number of participating aircraft was considerably less than on previous occasions. |
| The Kazakhstan Air Defense Forces only had a modest number of aircraft participating in the event, and |
| aircraft from exhibiting companies were almost non-existent this year. In addition to this, the event |
| was hindered by the typical harsh Astana weather, especially on the opening day with very strong winds and |
| temperatures in the single digits on the first two days, and almost 30 degrees and still very strong winds |
| on the final two days. As a matter of fact, Astana was hit by a hurricane the day before the show and an Air |
| Astana Airbus suffered a runway excursion on the same day. |
| The opening ceremony was attended by President Nursultan Nazarbajev himself but this could not prevent the outside |
| demonstrations being cancelled almost completely due to the weather. The demonstration programme included a very |
| impressive ground demo by the Kazakhstan Army supported by some ADF EC145 and Mi-17 helicopters, a demonstration |
| of a recently acquired Mi-35 and two new Su-30SMs. The KADEX event appears to be successful as types such as the |
| Mi-35, Su-30SM and the Wing Loong UAV were marketed by their manufacturers on previous editions of KADEX and those |
| have entered service since. As the event also includes a huge amount of ground equipment there is little doubt |
| that also this part of KADEX is successful. KADEX 2018 saw a massive presence of the Russian, Chinese and Turkish |
| defence industry. |
| The report below gives an impression of what could be seen during the four days. Day one and two were trade-days and |
| day three and four were open to the general public. The programme consists of a block reserved for the Kazakhstan |
| Defence Forces and two one-hour blocks for exhibitor’s aircraft but as there were none it actually was a rather boring |
| day for those interested in military aviation only. However, those interested in civil aviation saw a considerable amount |
| of interesting aircraft that are included in this report. |
| Static: | |||
| 07r | C295M | 218ATS | 168 |
| 11y | EC145 | 620AvB? | 9676 |
| UP-EC015 | EC145 | McHS KazAviaSpas | 9435 |
| 03r | Mi-35M1 | 607AvB? |
| 45r | Mi-171Sh | 602AvB? | 171Sh00398157560(U) |
| 06r | Su-30SM | 604AvB | 10MK51316 |
| 01y | Wing Loong | Kazachstan ADF |
| UP-LA205 | Lancair IV-P | ZKMK |
| UR-VBB | Mi-2 | MotorSich | 549508115 |
| UP-MI866 | Mi-8MSV-1 | KazMedAir |
| 15-0051 | A400M | 221Filo |
| 88-0032 | F-16C | 132Filo/Solo Turk |
| D-CSNC | Do328-100 | Dornier 328 Support |
| Eurocopter area: | |||
| 09y | EC145 | Kazakhstan ADF | 9597 |
| 10y | EC145 | Kazakhstan ADF | (9605) |
| 12y | EC145 | Kazakhstan ADF | (9671) |
| UP-EC033 | EC145 | McHS KazAviaSpas |
| Flightlines: | |||
| 02r | Su-30SM | 604AvB | (10MK51119) |
| 07r | Su-30SM | 604AvB | (10MK51507) |
| 01r | C295M | 218ATS | 093 |
| 08r | C295M | 218ATS | 169 |
| 07y | Mi-17V-5 | 620AvB? | (398M08) |
| 09y | Mi-17V-5 | 620AvB? | (398M10) |
| 19y | Mi-17V-5 | 620AvB? |
| 02r | Mi-35M1 | 607AvB? |
| 44r | Mi-171Sh | 602AvB? | (171Sh00398157)559(U) |
| 88-0029 | F-16C | 132Filo/Solo Turk |
| UN-65683 | Tu-134A | Kazachstan Gvmt | (62199) |
| UP-T5401 | Tu-154M | Kazachstan Gvmt | (91A889) |
| Astana is the home of some government aircraft as well as a detachment of the Border Guards operating the |
| An-26 and Mi-171Sh, a detachment of the Department of Emergency Services (McHS KazAviaSpas) operating the |
| EC145 and Ka-32. It is believed that also the Mi-17V-5s and EC145s call Astana home. |
| Elsewhere: | |||
| 01wh | An-26 | Kazakhstan Border Guards | 1109 |
| 05r | An-26 | Kazakhstan ADF | (10202) |
| 07r | An-72 | Kazakhstan ADF | (36572030460) |
| 08r | An-72 | Kazakhstan ADF | (36572091823) |
| UP-72850 | An-72-100 | Border Guards | (36576092850) 22may |
| 74082 | An-74TK-200D | Border Guards | (3654701221082) 27may |
| 1x | Ka-32A-11BC | McHS KazAviaSpas |
| 11y | Mi-171Sh | Kazakhstan Border Guards |
| 17y | Mi-171Sh | Kazakhstan Border Guards | (171S00398137342U) |
| 95100 | RRJ-95B | Kazakhstan Border Guards | (95096) |
| UP-42721 | Yak-42D | Kazakhstan Gvmt | (4520423310017) |
| 78820 | Il-76MD | Ukrainian AF | (0093496907) |
| UP-M1701 | Mi-172? | Kazachstan Gvmt | 25may |
| UP-EC501 | EC225LP | Kazachstan Gvmt | 25may |
| 9H-VFC | CL605 | Vista Jet |
| A6-EIQ | A320-232 | Etihad Airways |
| A7-AAG | A320-232 | Qatar Airways Amiri Flight |
| EW-399PO | ERJ-195LR | Belavia |
| LY-AWD, LY-AWE | B737-522 | Scat Airlines |
| LY-AZV | B737-7GL | Scat Airlines |
| M-ALTI | CL604 | Prime Aviation |
| M-BEST | Ce750 | Lanara Ltd. |
| M-KKCO | G450 | Sadalsuud Ltd |
| M-TYRA | Global 5000 | not noted |
| N888DC | G450 | Wells Fargo Bank |
| P4-EAS, P4-FAS, P4-GAS | B757-2G5 | Air Astana |
| P4-KCU | B757-2G5 | Air Astana |
| P4-MAS | B757-28A | Air Astana |
| P4-KEA, P4-KEB | B767-3KYER | Air Astana |
| P4-KBA, P4-KBC, P4-KBD | A320-232 | Air Astana |
| P4-KBE, P4-KBF | A320-232 | Air Astana |
| P4-KBH | A320-271N | Air Astana |
| P4-OAS | A321-131 | Air Astana |
| P4-KDA, P4-KDC | A321-231,271N | Air Astana |
| P4-KCD, P4-KCF, P4-KCG | ERJ190LR | Air Astana |
| P4-KCH, P4-KCJ, P4-KCK | ERJ190LR | Air Astana |
| P4-NUR, P4-QAZ | DHC8-402 | Qazaq Air |
| RA-96023 | Il-96-300 | Rossya | (74393203023) |
| SP-LWB, SP-LWC | B737-89P | LOT Polish Airlines |
| SU-ALB | A330-243 | Atlas Global Airlines |
| TC-JYL | B737-9F2ER | Turkish Airlines |
| TC-RZA | CL300 | MNG Jet |
| UK-32011, UK32019 | A320-214 | Uzbekistan Airways |
| UP-AN422 | An-24B | Southern Sky | (07306504) |
| UP-B3710, UP-B3712 | B737-31S,35B | Scat Airlines |
| UP-B3720 | B737-8 | Scat Airlines |
| UP-CJ004, UP-CJ008 | CRJ200ER | Scat Airlines |
| UP-CJ011, UP-CJ012 | CRJ200ER | Scat Airlines |
| UP-CS301 | Ce525B | KazAir Jet |
| UP-F1004, UP-F1005 | Fokker 100 | Bek Air |
| UP-F1007, UP-F1014 | Fokker 100 | Bek Air |
| UP-L4108 | L 410UVP-E20 | Zhezkazgan Air |
| UP-SJ001 | RRJ-95B | Comlux Aviation KZ |
| UP-Y4006 | Yak-40K | KazAir Jet |
| UP-Y4013 | Yak-40 | Zhezkazgan Air |
| UP-Y4028, UP-Y4036 | Yak-40K | East Wing |
| UP-Y4204 | Yak-42D | KazAir Jet |
| VQ-BHL | A320-214 | Aeroflot |
| VQ-BED,VQ-BHK,VQ-BHS | A321-211 | Aeroflot |
Credits: Bas Velders, Alfred Velders, Simon Gregor, Fred Willemsen.
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