13 tracked editions: exhibitions, conferences, hackathons, demo days and programmes across Poland. Dates, venues, organisers and registration deadlines, curated.
MSPO is one of the highest-value contracting forums in Europe: the 2025 edition saw over PLN 6 billion in defence contracts signed on-site, making it a critical venue for business development in Central and Eastern European procurement markets. Poland's status as one of the EU's most active defence spenders — with the largest NATO GDP-percentage defence budget — gives suppliers direct access to live procurement pipelines and senior ministry decision-makers. For SMEs and startups, the Canadian Lead Nation programme, B2B matchmaking, and the DEFENDER awards offer structured pathways to partnerships, export opportunities, and visibility with global primes and government buyers.
Podkarpackie is one of Central Europe's most established aerospace manufacturing bases, and this summit is the region's strategic move to pivot from aviation to drone/dual-use technology — directly relevant to defence suppliers and SMEs seeking to enter or expand in the UAS and dual-use market. The co-located Dual Use Challenge pitch finals offer startups direct access to VC funds, investors, and industrial primes on a single day. For defence-adjacent firms, the live airfield showcase at Stalowa Wola–Turbia — including counter-drone systems — provides rare hands-on demonstration access in a NATO-ally operational context.
The best single venue for reading CEE and eastern-flank security priorities and meeting regional decision-makers. Strong fit for firms positioning around the NATO eastern flank.
As Poland's first trade fair focused exclusively on drones and counter-UAS systems, DSE gives suppliers, SMEs and startups direct access to Polish uniformed services, military, critical-infrastructure managers and energy/telecom operators at a time of heightened regional demand for C-UAS capability. The event's live demonstration zones and decision-maker networking offer a practical route to test products and reach procurement-relevant buyers. Its debut status makes it a lower-cost early-mover opportunity in a fast-growing Central European security market.
The congress convenes senior Polish government, military and state-owned-enterprise decision-makers alongside technology suppliers, making it a venue for suppliers and SMEs to reach public-sector buyers and prime contractors. Sessions on technological sovereignty, public-private partnership, procurement (PZP) and defence funding map directly to commercial opportunities for domestic vendors. For startups and SMEs it offers direct visibility with ministries and critical-infrastructure operators who set requirements and budgets.
With European defence budgets expanding sharply, Warsaw is a frontline hub for air-defence procurement decisions, making this summit a rare small-room forum for suppliers to engage directly with programme leads and government buyers on cost, acquisition speed, and co-production pathways. The agenda explicitly targets 'pilot projects, framework paths, test windows, co-production options and financing routes', offering SMEs and startups concrete entry points into European air-defence programmes. The intimate format — 30+ senior speakers, no large expo floor — means networking yields direct decision-maker access rather than booth traffic.
Poland is a frontline NATO state rapidly scaling its drone procurement and C-UAS capabilities, making Warsaw an increasingly strategic market for UAS suppliers targeting defence and dual-use contracts in Central and Eastern Europe. Co-location with the broader Warsaw Security & Defence Expo block gives exhibitors direct access to uniformed services, government procurement representatives, and defence-adjacent buyers in a single venue. For SMEs and startups, the event's relatively low entry costs and regional profile offer a cost-efficient route to the Polish and wider CEE market before competing at larger global shows.
The premiere 2026 edition drew over 25,000 visitors and 360+ exhibitors, signalling strong demand for a Central-and-Eastern-European security and defence platform at a time of heightened Polish defence spending. Its integrated drone, rescue and firearms tracks plus a substantive conference give SMEs and startups direct access to uniformed services, public administration and R&D institutions such as Łukasiewicz. Ministry of National Defence patronage and attendance by senior decision-makers make it a relevant procurement and networking venue for dual-use suppliers.
Poland is one of Europe's fastest-growing defence spenders and is building out a major domestic industrial base, making Katowice a strategically important location for suppliers seeking to enter or expand within the Central and Eastern European defence supply chain. The event's deliberately limited, procurement-weighted exhibition floor gives SMEs and component suppliers direct access to decision-makers with budget authority, accelerating business development. With parallel editions planned in North America and Germany, DMME is positioning itself as a cross-continental platform for defence manufacturing and materials sourcing.
The conference is a niche academic and doctrinal venue rather than a commercial marketplace, giving SMEs and startups a channel to engage the Polish land-forces academy and partner universities on decision-support, dual-use, cyber and critical-infrastructure research topics. Its explicit focus on dual-use technologies and hybrid-threat decision-making aligns with priorities relevant to defence suppliers seeking academic partners or research validation. Value is primarily in networking, publication and early-stage research collaboration, not procurement.
The conference convenes Polish and Baltic government, military and critical-infrastructure operators alongside defence primes and technology suppliers, making it a targeted venue for firms working on situational awareness, maritime security and dual-use systems. Its workshop format lets vendors demonstrate solutions in realistic crisis scenarios and open direct dialogue with public buyers and infrastructure operators. Backing from the Ministry of National Defence and PGZ signals real procurement and partnership relevance for SMEs and startups in this niche.
The forum convenes high-level decision-makers—including senior government figures, the US ambassador and defence-sector primes—making it a rare access point for suppliers and startups to shape policy on defence economics and technological sovereignty in Central and Eastern Europe. Its explicit focus on dual-use technologies, local content and critical infrastructure aligns with procurement and reindustrialization priorities relevant to SMEs seeking industrial partnerships. The intimate, curated format offers direct networking with C-suite executives, investors and public administration.
The event targets the structural capital and partnership gaps that emerge as Poland deploys its EUR 43.7 billion SAFE allocation and as competitive EU instruments (EDF, EDIP, DEF, NIF) require pre-built multinational consortia. For SMEs and startups it offers a route to position for localization, technology transfer, and financing before calls open, plus direct matchmaking with technology providers and investors. Its focus on smaller, agile capabilities and the financing gap between contract award and production maturity makes it commercially relevant to suppliers rather than to prime-scale platform deals.
Poland hosts 9 tracked defence and dual-use events in 2026 across 7 cities. Every entry carries dates, venue, organiser, who actually attends, expected scale, exhibitor cost band and the registration deadline. Anchor editions include MSPO – International Defence Industry Exhibition, Warsaw Security Forum and Carpathian Drone Summit 2026. Coverage is refreshed as organisers publish dates, so a Poland edition that moves is corrected here rather than left stale.
Frequently asked
How many defence events in Poland are there in 2026?
MIKES tracks 9 defence events in Poland in 2026, including MSPO – International Defence Industry Exhibition, Warsaw Security Forum and Carpathian Drone Summit 2026.
Which defence event in Poland is next?
MSPO – International Defence Industry Exhibition is next, opening 8 September 2026 in Kielce, Poland.
When do registrations close for defence events in Poland?
Deadlines are tracked per edition: 2 of the 9 listed for 2026 still have an open registration deadline, the soonest being Carpathian Drone Summit 2026 on 31 August 2026.
How much do defence events in Poland cost to attend?
Cost is recorded per edition rather than estimated. All 9 listed carry a published cost or exhibitor price band, from free entry to paid delegate and stand packages.
Missing a Poland event we should track?
The catalog is curated, which means it is only as complete as the people using it. Paste the event URL and we do the rest: dates, venue, taxonomy and the decision note. Listed contributors are credited on the event page.
