By Alexander Dziadosz

CAIRO, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Quadcopters, electromagnetic rifles and an AI-powered navigation system were among the wares displayed at one of Africa and the Middle East’s biggest arms expos, as defence companies jostle to break into regional markets increasingly defined by drone warfare.

Cheap, deadly "unmanned aerial vehicles," or UAVs, have been rapidly developed in the war in Ukraine and also transformed recent conflicts from Ethiopia and Sudan to Libya and Yemen. That has created potentially lucrative opportunities for industry behemoths and startups alike in a market in which countries are spending billions.

The slickly branded – and occasionally outlandish – products featured prominently at Egypt’s biennial EDEX trade fair, held over four days in Cairo’s suburbs last week.

Uniformed delegates from countries as diverse as Kenya, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Azerbaijan and Saudi Arabia window-shopped at flashy displays by companies from Russia, China, the United States, India, Pakistan, South Korea, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and beyond.

DEFENCE HUB HOPES

Egypt, at the crossroads of the Middle East and Africa, hopes to make its own sizable military-industrial complex – nourished by $1.3 billion of U.S. aid a year – a hub to manufacture and export defence hardware.

EDEX said it featured over........

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