The Defence Industries Corporation of Nigeria (DICON) and its joint venture partner D7G Nigeria Limited unveiled its locally manufactured military hardware at the SAHA Defence and Aerospace Exhibition 2026 in Istanbul, Turkey. Held from May 5 to May 9, 2026, the international exhibition served as a global platform for Nigeria to demonstrate its advancing domestic military industrial capacity and reduce its historical reliance on foreign arms imports.
The delegation to the event included the Minister of State for Defence, Dr. Bello Mohammed Matawalle, accompanied by the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, who were both received by DICON-D7G representatives, including Chief Executive Officer Osman Chennar, Major General Mainasara Abdul Masanawa (retd.), and Brigadier General Abiodun Morakinyo (retd.). The Istanbul appearance follows a previous international debut at the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference in Qatar, representing the first international exhibition tour for the state manufacturer since its founding in 1964.
During the 5-day exhibition, Minister Matawalle opened the DICON-D7G booth and held bilateral talks with the Secretary of Defence Industries of Turkey, Prof. Dr. Haluk Görgün. Their discussions centered on technology transfer, capacity building, and defense industrial cooperation. Matawalle used the forum to invite international defense firms to establish manufacturing plants within Nigeria.
INDUSTRIAL EXPANSION AND LOGISTICS INTEGRATION
The joint venture, known as DICON-D7G, was established through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in January 2024 by state administrators and D7G Chief Executive Officer Osman Chennar. The primary objective of the entity is to scale up domestic manufacturing of arms, ammunition, and tactical vehicles to protect and meet the immediate needs of the Nigerian Armed Forces and reduce its reliance on foreign suppliers.
The central pillar of the current DICON-D7G production model is the DG-103 assault rifle, a domestically licensed and upgraded variant of the Russian Kalashnikov AK-103, which is built at the joint venture’s manufacturing facility in Kaduna. Chambered for the standard 7.62x39mm M43 cartridge, the rifle is designed to provide frontline infantry units with a reliable weapon system suited for varied terrain. By late 2025, DICON-D7G production facility had successfully assembled and delivered its initial batch of nearly 1,000 DG-103 rifles within the first two months of manufacturing, all of which passed certification and testing protocols.
Beyond kinetic infantry weapons, the joint venture has expanded its portfolio to design and build tactical unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and counter-drone platforms featuring integrated early-warning capabilities. These counter-UAV systems utilize specialized electronic architecture to detect and neutralize low-altitude aerial threats.
To support this expanding manufacturing ecosystem, DICON-D7G will officially launch a dedicated military jetty near the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos in June 2026. The infrastructure project functions as a primary logistics anchor to streamline the import of heavy raw components and the export of finished equipment to regional African markets. By operating an independent logistics gateway, the joint venture aims to eliminate third-party shipping delays, reduce import demurrage costs, and shorten equipment delivery timelines to domestic frontlines.
Following the activation of the Lagos maritime jetty by June, the joint venture plans to scale up its Kaduna assembly lines to begin supplying light armored vehicles and small arms to regional export markets within allied African nations.