Eurosatory

Eurosatory
Begins	June 15, 2026
Ends	June 19, 2026
Frequency	Biennial: Even years
Venue	Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre
Location	Paris France
Inaugurated	1967 (1967)
Previous event	2024
Next event	2026
Participants	2,032 exhibitors (2024)
Attendance	76,285 visitors (2024)
Organised by	Coges Events
Website	eurosatory.com

Eurosatory is the largest international exhibition for the land and air-land defence and security industry. It is held every two years in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre, Paris, France. In 2024, it had over 2000 exhibitors from 61 countries, 334 official delegations from 93 countries, and over 75,000 professional visitors from around the world. It is organised by COGES Events, a subsidiary of GICAT. Attendance and participation at the exhibition is for professionals only.

Description

This exhibition presents products from the entire land and air-land defence and security industries, from raw materials to sub-assemblies and operational systems.

Vehicle products include tanks, armoured vehicles, and trucks. Small arms coverage ranges from guns to missiles to knives. There are exhibitors of communications systems, uniforms, logistics services, simulation, operational medicine, and disaster response. Security has been a major theme during recent shows, with monitoring, alert, and emergency responses solutions as well as civil security with the presence of firemen, among other institutions.

The exhibition is the largest of its kind worldwide. It is closed to the general public and reserved for professionals: exhibitors, institutions, government officials, industry professionals, all ranks of members of armed and security forces, and police and emergency units. Access is prohibited for people under the age of 16.

There are two parts of the exhibition: indoor and outdoor. A dynamic live demonstration zone has been created to show the real-life use of several devices such as vehicles, drones, and technical interventions. These demonstrations are organised twice a day and attract about 1,000 visitors.

History

The first event was organised in 1967 by the French military procurement agency at Camp Satory with 30 exhibitors. All the editions from Satory I to Satory X were held there.

In 1992 the exhibition became pan-European, taking the name Eurosatory, European Land Defence Exhibition, and moved to the Bourget Exhibition Centre. In 1994, the United States exhibited for the first time, and most participants were from NATO countries. It went fully international in 1996 when manufacturers from the Russian Federation joined the exhibition.

In 2000, Eurosatory was renamed to "International Land and Air Defence Exhibition". From 2002 onward, it was held in the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre.

The 2006 event had 1,083 exhibitors and 48,000 participants, 50% of which were international, according to the official website. According to the same source, 110 official delegations from 71 countries came to the event, including 450 VIPs, and 24 ministers. The 2008 event was one of the most successful in the history of the show, with 117 delegations, 52,500 visitors and 1,210 exhibitors and an exhibition space of 125,000m². Some delegates then had a dinner at the Louvre museum.

In 2010, emphasis was on operational medicine, UASs, and ground robots. It was attended by 1,327 exhibitors from 54 countries and 53,566 professionals. The 2012 event was dedicated to "Land Defense and Security". It placed an emphasis on cybersecurity by organizing the first forum Cyberdef-Cybersec. There were 1,432 exhibitors and 53,480 visitors.

In 2014, the Eurosatory exhibition brought together 1,507 exhibitors from 59 countries, more than 55,700 visitors and 172 official delegations. In 2016, the exhibition hosted 1,571 exhibitors from 57 countries, 65.5% of which were international. There were 57,024 professional visitors from 140 countries, 212 official delegations with 821 delegates, and 723 journalists from all around the world.

In 2018, Eurosatory presented a number of novelties: the opening of a third exhibition hall, the Eurosatory LAB presenting 65 French and foreign start-ups, the presence of institutions in the live demonstrations (GIGN, French Army, Prefecture de Police inter-services, and more), and a career day. The event had 1,802 exhibitors (65% international), 57,056 visitors including 227 official delegations.

After a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 health crisis, the 2022 International Exhibition for Land and Air-land Defence and Security took place on June 13–17, 2022. It was one of the most significant in the history of the exhibition, with the background of the Russia's war on Ukraine. 1,743 companies attended the event. There were 250 delegations from 96 countries, senior executives, public and private decision-makers and project leaders. For the first time, Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, inaugurated the show. Exhibitors and attendees from Russia and China were banned.

During the 2024 edition, France banned Israeli defence companies from exhibiting at the arms fair due to the Gaza war. The Jerusalem Post reported that the District Court in France then prohibited "any Israeli citizen or intermediary of an Israeli business" from visiting the exhibit. The Times of Israel said the ban would affect anyone working for or representing Israeli firms. The ban was overturned after Eurosatory 2024 started on June 18, 2024. French-German KMW+Nexter Defense Systems (KNDS) presented prototype of the "Enhanced Main Battle Tank (E-MBT)" of EMBT ADT140. and Leclerc Evolution.

2026

The 2026 edition of Eurosatory opened on 15 June 2026. Prior to the show, on 1 June 2026, the French government barred Israel from establishing a national pavilion and banned Israeli government representatives from attending, while permitting Israeli defence firms to exhibit only air-defence products, with offensive systems explicitly excluded. The Israel Ministry of Defense condemned the restrictions as driven by "political and commercial calculation," accusing France of applying rules to Israel not imposed on other participating nations, "in direct violation of the established norms governing international defence exhibitions."

Despite thirty Israeli companies agreeing to comply with the restrictions and displaying only defensive systems – and many leaving their booths entirely empty – organizers sent an email at 9:45 p.m. on the eve of the exhibition informing them that their booths would be boarded up. Overnight, workers erected temporary wooden walls around the stands of fourteen Israeli firms, including Aeronautics, Controp Precision Technologies, SmartShooter, Orbit Communication Systems, Marom Dolphin, Paxis Advanced Ceramic Solutions, Gilat Defense, Source Tactical Gear, and OSG. The booths of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Elbit Systems were permitted to remain open.

The overnight action drew sharp criticism from Israeli industry executives. Dan Slasky, CEO of Aeronautics, told the Jerusalem Post that his company had gone beyond French requirements and left its booth entirely empty, yet was still blocked: "In spite of all of that, they closed our booth. And no one is answering the phone when we call to get answers." Orbit CEO Daniel Eshchar said inspectors had visited the booth, told the company "good luck," then returned two hours later to board it up without explanation. Controp employees wrote on the board blocking their stand: "Controp's long-range EO cameras defeated Iranian ballistic missiles but lost to French short-sightedness."

Coges Events, the show organiser, stated that stands had been closed because they "did not respect the conditions of participation in the exhibition defined by the French authorities," which required material "exclusively linked to anti-air and anti-ballistic missile capacities." Michael Edelstein, Elbit Systems' VP of strategy and business development in North America, told Breaking Defense that the company had prepared ahead of time for the restrictions but still had to remove an ISR system from its display after a visit by show organizers. Edelstein suggested commercial motivations partly drove the restrictions, saying that Israeli industry had been "very successful" globally and posed a threat to a European market traditionally dominated by French firms.

The 2026 restrictions continued a pattern of escalating French measures against Israeli participation. At the 2024 Eurosatory, France had initially banned Israeli defence companies entirely before the ban was overturned by a court. In 2025, black partitions were erected around Israeli company exhibits displaying offensive weapons at the Paris Air Show. Israeli participation in Eurosatory had fallen sharply, from 74 companies in 2024 to fewer than 40 in 2026, though multiple executives stated they intended to return for future editions.

Elbit Systems VP Michael Edelstein, who told reporters the company had also been required to remove an ISR surveillance system from its display after a visit by show organizers, suggested the restrictions reflected commercial as well as geopolitical motivations; Israeli industry, he said, had been "very successful" worldwide, posing a threat to a European market that had traditionally been "owned" by French firms. The Israeli MoD echoed the suggestion in its own statement. Representatives of Controp placed a sign on the board blocking their booth that read: "Controp's long-range EO cameras defeated Iranian ballistic missiles but lost to French short-sightedness."

The 2026 incidents were part of a pattern stretching back several years. France initially banned Israeli firms from the 2024 edition of Eurosatory before reversing the decision following a court challenge. In 2025, black partitions were erected around Israeli company exhibits at the Paris Air Show. By 2026, Israeli participation at Eurosatory had declined significantly: whereas 74 Israeli companies had exhibited in 2024, fewer than 40 registered for the 2026 edition.

External links

• Exhibition website
• Media related to Eurosatory at Wikimedia Commons