Russia’s state arms exporter, Rosoboronexport, publicly displayed two new air-launched weapons, the S-71M and S-71K, alongside the Su-57E stealth fighter at the El Alamein International Airshow in Egypt from September 8 to 10, 2026. The event marked the Su-57E’s first appearance at an African air show and the first public showing of both weapons.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi opened the second edition of the show at El Alamein International Airport on September 8. Organizers, including Egypt’s Ministry of Defence, the Egyptian Air Force and the Egyptian Space Agency, drew more than 250 exhibitors from roughly 50 countries, according to a Russian state broadcaster. Flight demonstrations included Egypt’s Silver Stars, Saudi Arabia’s Saudi Hawks, and the Su-57.
A Rosoboronexport representative, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said the S-71M and S-71K had already seen combat use. Describing the weapons, he told the news agency: “It’s not a drone, it’s not a missile, it’s something (like) both”. Industry publications cited by Reuters describe the pair as combining features of cruise missiles and low-cost attack drones.
United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), the Rostec subsidiary that builds the Su-57, identified the S-71M as a warhead-delivery platform and the S-71K as an aviation bomb. Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Agency has said the S-71K, known as “Kovyor” or “Kover”, carries an OFAB-250-270 warhead and lacks terminal guidance, making it a low-cost, stand-off weapon rather than a precision-strike system. Its flattened airframe and forward-mounted wings are designed to reduce the missile’s radar return, giving it a measure of low observability.
The S-71M, called “Monokhrom”, is described by UAC and Defense outlets as a more autonomous follow-on design. It carries an electro-optical seeker and has loitering capability, allowing it to search for and engage moving targets, with an operator able to confirm the target before impact. Both weapons are sized to fit the Su-57’s internal weapons bay, preserving the jet’s low-observable profile when armed.
Rostec also showed the S8000 “Banderol” (developed by Kronshtadt Group), a smaller precision-guided missile that first emerged publicly in 2025 and has reportedly seen use in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Defense channels have put its range at roughly 500 km, with a maximum speed of 600 km per hour and a 150-kg warhead. Unlike the S-71 pair, the Banderol is built for multiple launch platforms, including fighters, the Mi-28 attack helicopter, and improvised ground launchers.
The Su-57E is the export version of Russia’s only fifth-generation fighter, a single-seat, twin-engine aircraft with thrust-vectoring engines built to compete with Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II. Rosoboronexport’s static and flying displays paired the jet with the RVV-MD2 short-range and RVV-BD long-range air-to-air missiles, the Kh-38MLE air-to-surface missile, the Kh-69 low-observable cruise missile and the Kh-58UShKE anti-radiation missile. The export model has previously appeared at air shows in China, India and the United Arab Emirates, but El Alamein was its first outing in Africa.
Russia’s push for African and Middle Eastern buyers comes as the Su-57 program has struggled to close major export deals. Algeria has been widely reported as the aircraft’s first export customer, with two jets reportedly delivered to an unnamed buyer in late 2025. Ukraine has said its forces struck a Su-57 at a Russian air base in 2024, a claim Moscow has not addressed publicly.
Rosoboronexport chief executive Alexander Mikheev said the agency holds new contracts tied to the Su-57E without naming customers or quantities. Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation said 35 Russian organizations exhibited more than 500 military items at the show, spanning Almaz-Antey’s air defense systems, Tactical Missiles Corporation’s munitions and High-Precision Systems’ short-range weapons.
The emergence of the S-71 family and the Banderol reflects a wider shift in Russian doctrine toward cheaper, expendable strike weapons that can be produced and fielded in volume. Officials and analysts tracking the war in Ukraine have said mass use of low-cost, radar-evading munitions has proven effective at wearing down layered air defenses, a lesson Moscow appears to be applying directly to its export catalog. Pairing such weapons with a fifth-generation platform like the Su-57E gives prospective buyers, many of them African and Middle Eastern air forces without their own stealth aircraft, a lower-cost path to the same tactical effect.
China used the same show to display its J-16 fighter days after joint exercises with Egypt under the “Eagles of Civilization” banner, as the United States sent A-10, F-15E, F-16, and C-130 aircraft along with personnel from the Texas Air National Guard. Military delegations from Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Kuwait were among the observers, an indication that the broader competition for African defense markets is now playing out at El Alamein.
Rosoboronexport has not said when the S-71M and S-71K will be available for export or whether any foreign customer has placed an order. Further details are likely to surface as UAC and Rostec continue marketing the weapons to prospective buyers across Africa and the Middle East in the coming months.