Eurosatory: the defense sector facing a triple strategic tension

Bringing together in Paris, from June 15 to 19, a wide range of players in defense, security and innovation, the show organized by Coges Events reflects the tensions in the sector. Under the effect of ESG criteria applied by banks and investors, increased requirements in terms of environmental transparency and certain restrictions on access to financing, manufacturers must adapt their models. For Charles Beaudouin, general commissioner of the event, it is now a question of reinventing industrial processes in order to profoundly transform the sector’s capabilities.

“For years, we didn’t talk about defense. It wasn’t good, it wasn’t beautiful”: an evolving image

Long kept at a distance from public debate, the defense industry remains marked by an image considered sensitive, still associated with a strictly military sector and often reduced to the issues of armaments and conflicts. This perception is explained in particular by professional aspirations more oriented towards civil digital technology, as well as a lack of knowledge of industrial realities, which nevertheless cover a wide spectrum of activities, from advanced engineering to high-precision production.

Investment policies, influenced by ESG criteria, have also contributed to reinforcing this distance. An observation, however, nuanced by certain players in the sector, already engaged in a CSR approach around inclusion, the energy transition, the circular economy and the reduction of carbon emissions. The presence of players from luxury industries, such as Hermès during a previous edition, shows that the image of the sector is evolving at its own pace.

Eurosatory at the heart of the war for technological talent

This perception has a direct impact on the sector’s recruitment capacities, even as needs are intensifying. The latter cover a variety of professions, from the design of embedded software to cybersecurity or the manufacturing of high-precision systems – skills also highly sought after in civil digital, which strengthens competition with all of the economy.

“The defense industry has great difficulty recruiting”admits Charles Beaudouin, referring to an evolution in the career choices of young graduates, more attracted by environmental issues. Nationally, the army has approximately 1,800 open positions for 2,300 candidates, a ratio of 1.2 candidates per position, leaving very little margin of selection. To meet this challenge, a “job tent” will be set up during Eurosatory 2026, in order to encourage meetings between companies and candidates.

A rise in sovereignty issues

The third level of tension is financial. For a long time, ESG criteria have slowed the sector’s access to bank and institutional financing. “Banks no longer financed defense”recalls Charles Beaudouin. Many investors have thus reduced their exposure to a sector considered sensitive, which has directly weighed on the financing capacities of manufacturers.

Since the war in Ukraine, several states have reaffirmed the strategic nature of defense, leading to a reopening of public and private funding. At the same time, the sector is moving closer to civil technologies through dual technologies, particularly in software, cybersecurity or artificial intelligence. The State has thus mobilized nearly 300 million euros to structure these gateways and accelerate the rise in industrial power. Between the reopening of funding, the rise of dual technologies and the quest for new talents, defense is taking a new turn – opening the way to new industrial models and new cooperation between civil and military actors.