Counter-UAS for Egypt: Russia offers Cairo the Bizon system

Russia is putting itself forward for Egypt’s counter-UAS defences: Moscow has offered Cairo the short-range Bizon system – only a few weeks after the drone attack on the Egyptian port of Damietta. So far there is no information on quantities, costs or delivery dates.

Bizon was developed by High-Precision Systems, a subsidiary of the Russian state-owned group Rostec. In Russia itself the system is designated Zubr; Bizon is its export version. It is primarily intended to detect, track and engage small, low-flying drones.

To this end, Bizon combines its own sensors with 7.62 mm PKT machine guns. The system detects and tracks targets largely automatically; according to the manufacturer, the decision to engage still rests with the operator. It can be operated either networked with external reconnaissance systems or on its own. Rostec speaks of a kind of “last line of defence” against drones that have already got past forward defence systems.

Two ships ablaze in Damietta

For Egypt, the Russian offer comes at a sensitive moment. In the drone attack on the Mediterranean port of Damietta on 29 July, the floating storage and regasification unit “Energos Winter” caught fire, as did the LNG tanker “GasLog Salem”. No one was injured.

The port is one of the key sites of Egypt’s energy infrastructure. The government in Cairo later confirmed that debris from a drone had been recovered; where it came from is under investigation. Since then, the question has been how critical infrastructure can be better protected against small, low-flying drones.

Counter-UAS from several sources

Russia has been seeking orders for counter-drone systems in Egypt for years. The two countries agreed on licensed production of the Russian Zashchita system at the end of 2023; Moscow subsequently presented further solutions in Egypt, including the SERP-VS6.

Cairo is not relying on Russian technology alone, however. With the DJ-400, Egypt is working on a solution of its own, and most recently the high-power electromagnetic system SkyWolf from Diehl Defence was added to Egypt’s counter-drone defences.

Bizon would add another building block to Egypt’s increasingly diversified defence against drones. So far, however, there is nothing more than a Russian offer; no order has been announced.