Defense: at Eurosatory, Europe says it is preparing for the probability of a shock in the East

The Salon Eurosatorya major international meeting for land defense and security organized every two yearsopened this Monday at Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis) for a week.

Europe is preparing to experience a conflict like the one in Ukraine

On the eve of kick-off, the dynamic demonstrations reserved for the press set the tone of what a high intensity conflict in Europe.

 “We are preparing to experience a fight of the type that the Ukrainians are very courageously leading.” a resumé pour l’AFP le General Philippe de MontenonCommander of Land Forces and Operations and Land Commander for Europe.

Compared to the 2024 edition, General de Montenon indicates that “the probability of a clash in the East against Russia is increasing“and that Europe’s priority is “d’être prête pour ce choc”.

Drones omnipresent at the show, a tool for protecting tanks

This preparation involves substantial human, technical and technological resources. “What combat is droned, robotic, numbered“, he adds. And in fact, at the Show, drones are everywhere, in all the demonstrations. charsfaced in Ukraine with the threat of cheap drones, wear anti-drone protective cages.

For Mathieu Dumontet, from Rheinmetall Canada, interviewed by AFP after a demonstration, the tank is “not obsolete” as long as it is accompanied by autonomous systems protected against drones. In France, the Army, which only possessed 4 000 drones fin 2025is “in the process of acquiring 14,000”, underlined Olivier Coquet, head of its technical section.

Coveted Ukrainian expertise, cooperation to be promoted

Ukraine’s expertise will be very coveted at the show, which welcomes 80 Ukrainian companies compared to ten for the previous edition. They will present their drones, their systèmes robotisésbut also strike missiles in depth, tested in the war against Russia. “The Ukrainians are so far ahead that we can only copy them”, note Charles Beaudouin. 

THE partnerships with the Ukrainians are however relatively rare at this stageespecially in FranceFriday, Airbus has teamed up with a pioneer of Ukrainian drones, SkyFall, on the sidelines of another defense exhibition in Berlin: the European giant will bring its expertise in the command and control of operations, while SkyFall will deliver its proven drone technologies to the battlefield.Â

The whole challenge for Eurosatory will be to stimulate a accélération des coopérations.