Air & Missile Defence events

For defence suppliers aligned with or seeking access to Russia and its partner states (China, Iran, Belarus, India, African and Middle Eastern nations), ARMY has historically been the single most important procurement and export platform in the Russian-sphere market. The forum is where the Russian MoD signs multi-hundred-billion-rouble government contracts and where Rosoboronexport facilitates export negotiations with over 80 foreign military delegations. Its cancellation in 2025 — the first in the event's history — is itself a significant market signal about Russia's wartime operational security posture and the declining viability of the forum as an international arms-trade venue.

For defense-tech SMEs and startups, this summit offers direct access to the European VC and strategic investor community—including funds such as Seraphim, Bessemer, Lightspeed, and NATO Innovation Fund—in a single intimate venue. The high-ticket, invitation-feel format concentrates decision-makers rather than diluting access across a mass trade-show floor, making it one of the few European forums where a startup can pitch operators, investors, and NATO innovation officials in the same room. The agenda's explicit focus on crossing the valley of death, European strategic autonomy, and Ukraine-war lessons directly addresses the procurement and partnership questions most pressing for companies seeking European government contracts.

Enforce Tac is the premier European procurement and partnership forum for the security and defence sector, bringing together credentialled decision-makers, budget holders, and ministry representatives who are actively shaping equipment and capability programmes. For SMEs and startups, a dedicated 'startups@Enforce Tac' area offers subsidised participation and direct access to prime contractors and institutional buyers at a single venue. The event's explosive growth—visitor numbers up 42% and exhibitor count up over 40% in 2026—reflects its rapidly rising strategic weight as Europe's central platform for networked security dialogue.

With only ~300–350 vetted attendees, the event offers unusually direct access to the military end-users and procurement decision-makers who write C-UAS requirements and sign contracts across NATO and European allies — making it an efficient entry point for SMEs and startups seeking early programme engagement. The tightly controlled attendance (registrations subject to organiser approval) signals a senior, buying-intent audience rather than a broad trade-fair crowd. For suppliers, sponsorship or exhibition here delivers visibility at the moment when European C-UAS budgets and multi-nation frameworks are being actively shaped.

Inside the Dome is the first dedicated commercial gathering to convene Golden Dome programme leadership — including the Director and Deputy Director of Golden Dome for America, senior DoD acquisition officials, and Congressional caucus members — alongside the non-traditional defence companies and venture investors being actively courted to build the system. For SMEs and startups, it is a rare access point to the decision-makers shaping a programme projected to receive $175 billion in funding, with real contracting and partnership conversations possible in a single day. The sell-out of early-bird and standard tiers signals strong commercial appetite and validates the event as a near-term procurement-intelligence venue.

JOS is the principal CAF/DND platform for shaping Canada's operational approach to defence, bringing together GOFOs, intelligence community heads (CSE, CSIS), Five Eyes defence attachés, and select industry and academic representatives from bodies such as CADSI. For defence suppliers and SMEs, it is a rare window into the CAF's near-term operational priorities and procurement signals, particularly around Arctic/continental defence and all-domain readiness. The 2026 all-domain theme directly foreshadows capability gaps and investment areas that will drive future DND procurement decisions.

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.

As NATO's flagship public-communications event in Central Europe, it puts allied air, land and rescue capabilities in front of national leadership, ambassadors, military attachés and hundreds of thousands of visitors, giving suppliers high-visibility exposure alongside primes and government forces. The Special Partner Nation mechanism (Germany in 2026) has historically opened industrial and political cooperation opportunities, and the show serves as a debut platform for new platforms and modernization programs relevant to Czech and allied procurement.

The event offers defence suppliers direct access to NATO commanders, Romanian and allied military leadership, and procurement decision-makers on NATO's Eastern Flank at a time of accelerated regional spending. Its focus on accelerated procurement, SAFE-fund allocation and rapid innovation adoption makes it a relevant business-development venue for SMEs and startups seeking to align products—counter-UAS, air defence, C2, EW, ISR and autonomy—with alliance requirements.