Russia’s Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defence Corporation used the El Alamein International Airshow 2026 to unveil the 1L122ME compact multifunctional radar outside Russia for the first time, according to a company statement carried by state news agency TASS. The system, displayed as a mock-up at the corporation’s Stand B110, is pitched as a dual-role sensor capable of both air defence surveillance and counter-battery work, detecting hostile artillery fire and helping direct a response against it. Almaz-Antey said the radar can detect targets, including uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), at ranges up to 60 kilometres, and that its low radiated power makes it difficult for an adversary’s electronic intelligence systems to detect and locate in the field.
The radar was not shown in isolation at the general Russia’s exposition organized by Rosoboronexport. A special El Alamein edition of the Russian Aviation & Military Guide trade publication, cited alongside the TASS statement, lists several further Almaz-Antey systems on display at the same stand: the 103Zh6E mobile multi-position radar, the 55Zh6ME multi-function radar, the 59N6-TE three-coordinate radar, the 55Zh6UME standby-mode three-coordinate radar, the 1K145E defence set, and the 1K130E helicopter-mounted ground target reconnaissance radar. Together, the display represents one of the more comprehensive showings of Russian radar technology at any recent Middle Eastern or African exhibition, arriving at the same show where Military Africa has already reported on Rosoboronexport’s parallel display of the KUB-10ME loitering munition, the Lancet-E strike drone, and a modernised Ka-52E attack helicopter, and where the United States and China have each staged their own competing military aircraft demonstrations this week.
What the 1L122ME Actually Offers
The 1L122ME, also referred to by the name Garmon-ME, is described by its manufacturer as an in-depth upgrade of the earlier 1L122-1E radar. Operating in the L frequency band, the system is claimed to offer reduced weight and faster transition between operating modes compared with its predecessor, alongside an added counter-battery function that activates in a sector-scanning mode, in which Almaz-Antey says it can locate 82mm and 120mm mortar positions from as far as 13 kilometres away. The company describes the radar’s low radiated power as giving it a low-probability-of-intercept (LPI) quality, a design property intended to reduce the risk of the radar itself being detected and targeted, while also permitting personnel to work safely near the radar head during operation. Almaz-Antey markets the system as suited to army units running both air-defence and artillery assets simultaneously, and separately as a potential air surveillance component for critical infrastructure protection, a use case that would put it in competition with the growing field of dedicated counter-drone detection systems rather than purely traditional air defence radar.
The broader family shown alongside it covers a wider altitude and target band. The 103Zh6E and 55Zh6ME are pitched as capable of tracking small, low-observable air-launched munitions, including those built with radar-absorbing or shaping techniques intended to reduce detectability, while also identifying the national origin of aircraft in the area and locating active jamming sources. The 59N6-TE, a mobile three-coordinate radar intended for integration into networked radio engineering units, is described as able to track aerodynamic, ballistic and hypersonic targets, a category of threat that has driven considerable investment across multiple air defence industries in recent years given the difficulty of tracking objects at those speeds with older radar generations. The 55Zh6UME performs a broadly similar three-coordinate detection and jammer-location role in standby mode against small, low-observable targets.
As with the KUB-10ME loitering munition Kalashnikov promoted at the same show, every performance figure attached to the 1L122ME and its companion systems originates from Almaz-Antey’s own statement, relayed through Russian state media.
Why This Matters for African Buyers
A compact, road-mobile radar offering both air defence detection and counter-battery capability speaks directly to security priorities that several African militaries have voiced in different contexts, from countering the small commercial and improvised drones increasingly used by armed groups across the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, to detecting the kind of indirect mortar fire that has featured in conflicts from Somalia to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Whether that translates into new African orders for the 1L122ME specifically remains to be seen. Almaz-Antey’s decision to give the system its international debut at an African rather than a domestic or Gulf exhibition suggests the company sees genuine commercial potential on the continent, building on a customer relationship.