“The war in Ukraine continues to weigh on the security of our entire continent,” said Catherine Vautrin, recalling that this conflict has “changed our way of conceiving the role of mass, fire, munitions, drones, electronic warfare, depth or endurance.”
“We are preparing to experience a fight of the type that the Ukrainians are very courageously waging,” summarizes General Philippe de Montenon, commander of land forces and operations and Land Commander for Europe. Same echo from the curator of the biennial show Charles Beaudouin, former senior official of the French Army. In an interview, he evokes the “potentiality”, put forward by numerous European officials, of a “window of opportunity” for Vladimir Putin to launch “an offensive” elsewhere in Europe, as the Ukrainian front stabilizes.
Preparing for emerging threats
Compared to the previous edition in 2024, “the probability of a shock in the East against Russia is increasingly strong” and “our priority is to be ready for this shock, starting this evening”, according to General Philippe de Montenon. The conflict in Ukraine also demonstrates the “continuous need for innovation. There too we look at what our Ukrainian comrades are doing who are showing astonishing ingenuity,” he declared on Monday.
Anti-drone drone models which kyiv actively promotes and uses every day in the face of Russian salvos
The Eurosatory show in Villepinte, north-east of Paris, with its more than 2,600 exhibitors, is the showcase. The tanks, faced in Ukraine with the threat of cheap drones which have profoundly called into question their use on the battlefield, appear here wearing anti-drone protection cages. Anti-drone systems “are more present” at Rheinmetall, the German king of tanks, admits Mathieu Dumontet of Rheinmetall Canada, after a demonstration. On the stands of Emirati, European and American exhibitors, models of anti-drone drones, which kyiv actively promotes and uses every day in the face of Russian salvos, are highlighted.
In France, the Army, which only had 4,000 drones at the end of 2025, is “in the process of acquiring 14,000”, underlined Olivier Coquet, head of its technical section. “Sufficient” number to train soldiers, estimates General Philippe de Montenon, while each brigade now has a cell which trains drone pilots.
The integration of Ukrainian feedback
Ukraine’s expertise will be highly coveted at the show, which welcomes 80 Ukrainian companies compared to ten for the previous edition in 2024. They present their drones, robotic systems, but also deep strike missiles, proven in the war against Russia. “The Ukrainians are so far in advance that we can only copy them,” according to Charles Beaudouin. He recalls that these are “Ukrainian and not American specialists” who were invited to the Gulf countries, targets of Iranian drones since the start of the war in the Middle East at the end of February.
However, partnerships with the Ukrainians are relatively rare at this stage, especially in France. On Friday, Airbus teamed up with Ukrainian drone pioneer SkyFall on the sidelines of another defense show in Berlin. It remains to be seen whether Eurosatory will mark an acceleration of this type of cooperation.
He warned against “ambiguous stands” also displaying banned, offensive weapons.
Private Israeli companies are authorized this year to display “defensive” weapons while in 2024 France had initially decreed a “total” ban on Israeli participation, due to the war in Gaza. With their very efficient “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense system, the Israelis will therefore be able to promote capabilities “which we have never needed so much”, according to the show commissioner. He warned against “ambiguous stands” also displaying banned, offensive weapons, suggesting such participants would be banned from the show.
