Special forces enter Jordan for defense industry conference
SOFEX 2024 kicked off with an address by King Abdullah II and 300 security companies from 73 companies displaying equipment and services
Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah surveys the beach in Aqaba on Monday, where the 101st Special Battalion will conduct a mock exercise for the SOFEX special operation forces exhibition. (Photo: Petra News Agency)
Jordan takes center stage this week in the largely secret realm of the world’s military special forces as it hosts a defense industry conference in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba.
The Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference, or SOFEX, kicked off on Tuesday with an address by King Abdullah II and more than 300 defense and security companies from 73 companies displaying equipment and services.
The three-day conference will feature a mock sea operation exercise led by Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, who serves as Deputy Commander of the 101st Special Unit of the King Abdullah II Special Forces Group.
Meanwhile, the first Egyptian International Airshow took off at the Al Alamein airport on the country’s northern Mediterranean coast. Among the participants from 100 countries are 300 companies, including aerospace manufacturers from the U.S., France, the U.K., Germany, Russia, China and Turkey.