At Malaysia’s arms bazaar, drone dealers chase Southeast Asian market share

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‘Drone warfare is the future,’ say arms dealers in Kuala Lumpur – and the region’s militaries are buying in

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Joseph SipalanPublished: 1:30pm, 26 Apr 2026Updated: 1:46pm, 26 Apr 2026Watch a cheap commercial drone destroy a battle tank on the frontlines in Ukraine, or a cut-price Iranian Shahed menace Tel Aviv, then ask yourself why Southeast Asia’s defence ministries are suddenly very interested in unmanned aerial vehicles.

The answer was on full display last week at the Defence Services Asia (DSA) exhibition in Kuala Lumpur, where vendors from Abu Dhabi to Pretoria were chasing deals in one of the global arms trade’s hottest emerging markets.

“There is huge demand from the market in Asia … very, very big demand,” said Mohammed Ayesh, director of acquisition and development at Resource Industries.

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“To be honest, too much. It is good, we are very busy.”

The Emirati defence firm was one of dozens of foreign vendors that descended on Malaysia’s capital for the expo – held once every two years – chasing the same opportunity: a region all at once urgently serious about drones.

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