Astana International Airport (Kazachstan)

Kadex 2018

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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