India's historic participation at Eurosatory 2026 in Paris marked a major shift (Photo: MIG)
On Friday, Eurosatory 2026, which was the largest edition ever of the world’s largest defence industry show, closed doors with record participation, not just in terms of exhibitors or exhibition area, but also in terms of visitors as growing global geopolitical instability and live conflicts in various parts of the world sent governments from across the globe scurrying to find the latest solutions for their defensive and offensive forces.
For the exhibitors, weapons and defence equipment manufacturers from well over 100 countries, the show was a crowning glory of an intense period of record and rapidly growing orderbooks and ever-rising turnover and profits as actors, big or small, continue to reinforce their militaries.
For practically all the defence manufacturers, from large supplier nations like the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy or Turkiye, the former Warsaw Pact nations like Bulgaria or the Czech Republic, and of course India, Eurosatory 2026 presented a unique opportunity not only to showcase their latest products but also hold serious discussions on contracts for sale or establishment of joint ventures for setting up manufacturing facilities in the key buying nations.
Over the past two decades, India has increasingly been making its mark at major defence exhibitions, be it Eurosatory or Paris Air Show, and the trend continued this year, with close to 50 exhibitors, showcasing a variety of products, from personnel and equipment safety products to optronics, radars, missiles, rockets, electronics, drones, counter-drones systems and many more.
As always, leading the Indian presence at Eurosatory was Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), one of the flagship Defence Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs) in India, which showcased a vast variety of products, from missiles and radars to advanced electronic solutions for buyers from across the world.
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“BEL has come to Eurosatory 2026 with a wide range of products and solutions. We currently have around 350 products that are being used extensively by the Indian armed forces and many international customers as well. Our portfolio covers communication systems, radar systems, electronic warfare solutions for land, naval and airborne platforms, cyber security, Artificial Intelligence (AI), quantum technologies, radios and several next-generation defence solutions,” Rajnish Sharma, Director (Operations) Bangalore, BEL tells Biz@India.
Rajnish Sharma
“Following Operation Sindoor, many of BEL’s systems have gained global visibility. Systems such as Akashteer, National Command Control Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) solutions, Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS) and various radar and sensor networks demonstrated their capabilities during the operation. These systems enabled effective threat detection, networking and response capabilities. We are here with the vision of Make in India, Make for the World and are showcasing India’s growing defence manufacturing capabilities to the global market,” he adds.
“BEL is using the platform to strengthen its engagement with friendly nations and explore new export opportunities. The Indian presence at Eurosatory has also expanded significantly, with several defence public sector undertakings and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) participating. The exhibition allows us to showcase India’s indigenous capabilities and establish long-term partnerships,” Sharma says.
In terms of a star performer from the BEL stable at Eurosatory 2026, Sharma says its Akash missiles garnered a lot of interest at the show. “If one product has emerged as a standout attraction, it is the Akash missile system. The system has generated significant interest because of its successful operational performance, precision, reliability and affordability. We have received enquiries from several countries and defence companies that are interested in potential cooperation, integration opportunities and future procurement discussions,’’ he adds.
Besides BEL, several other leading DPSUs have participated in the show. These include the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which is the backbone of the Indian defence industry, as well as Armoured Vehicles Nigam Limited, Munitions India and Optel India, companies that were recently spun off from the previous Ordnance Factories Board.
Rakesh Ojha
Munitions India, which is the prime supplier of all calibre ammunition to the Indian Armed Forces, was one of the leading exhibitors at the show and the company says it has had very good response from various kinds of companies from across the globe.
“We are getting very good response from all over the world for our products, which are known for their quality, reliability and our reputation of the timely deliveries means that the entire world is inviting us. We have come here to showcase our capabilities and abilities and what kind of work we can do and the response is really overwhelming. And it is just because our stable of products is very huge, from initiatory compositions to explosives and different kind of propellants as well as the assembly of all kinds of ammunition, from small to high calibre rockets as well as missiles,” Rakesh Ojha, Director (Operations), Munitions India, tells Biz@India.
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“Our next step, for Munitions India, is to evolve further. We are experts in legacy explosives and frankly speaking, any war will require those kinds of traditional ammunition, whether they are artillery shells or rockets. But at the same time, now that warfare has evolved tremendously, with a lot of drones being used for different applications as well as new kinds of missiles and we would like to expand our presence in this domain,” Ojha adds.
Alongside the DPSUs, several private companies have also been participating in defence exhibitions like Eurosatory and one of the key players has been Kanpur-based MKU, which has evolved into a major player into optronics and other specialist equipment. For MKU, too, the show has been a resounding success.
Karan Gupta
“I think the turnout at this edition of Eurosatory was much larger than what we had in the previous editions. I see a lot more companies participating, a lot of new names. I think 30-40 pc of the exhibitors when I roam around the show must be new companies, a lot of start-ups, new age technology companies focusing on drones, anti-drones, technologies, a lot of Artificial Intelligence. So, I think it was a great show. A lot of visibility for us, meeting old partners, meeting potential new customers and end users,” Karan Gupta, Vice President, MKU, tells Biz@India.
Gupta says that one of the key outcomes has been an agreement with an Indonesian firm to supply and manufacture of its optronics in Indonesia.
He says that even though the defence industry worldwide has been moving rapidly towards high-tech products and with a lot of emphasis on technologically-advanced products, he has been caught by surprise by the response to one of the basic, low-technology products from MKU stable.
“Of course, the generic products for which we are known for, which is our electro-optics and armour were good. But something that took us by surprise was the introduction of anti-drone nets and multi-spectral camouflage nets at the show. We had surprisingly a lot of interest in that. While many would compare an anti-drone net to a fishing net and call it a low-tech product. But we realised that something so simple, something so low-tech and boring, has a lot of real application today in the modern day environment of warfare. So, that took us by surprise and I think that was something, an eye-opener for us also,’’ Gupta adds.
For Precision Electronics, another Delhi-based defence equipment manufacturer, Eurosatory 2026 was the third edition of the show and Nikhil Kanodia, Managing Director, says that Precision has grown along with the show over the past six years. “I can clearly see the Indian presence growing and our presence has also grown. This is our third time here. The first time was just to get noticed in 2022, while in 2024, it was, hopefully, to be seen by more and more customers and which happened. People were very curious about India in 2024, in 2026, people are now coming, approaching us to be our distributors, to be our resellers in Europe,” Kanodia tells Biz@India.
Nikhil Kanodia
Kanodia adds that the response at the show has been not just enthusiastic but concrete. “We have reached an agreement to make a reseller agreement with a French company. We have appointed a partner, a technical system integrator partner in Cyprus, who is also going to look into Greece for us. The reason we come to these shows in Europe is because ultimately Europe is expanding its military footprint, the spending on defence as a percentage of GDP is increasing. And I believe that Europe is on the lookout for more diverse partners. And with all the agreements that we have made with several European companies, France being one of them, of course, the top one on the list. We expect that if 25 pc of our revenues do not come from Western Europe, then we are doing something wrong,” he says.
Beyond the exhibitors, Eurosatory also drew several Indian defence companies, as part of a delegation mounted by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), an apex body of the Indian industry, to explore the possibilities of expanding business as well as to get a first-hand view of the latest trends and developments in the global defence industry. For the 34-member delegation, the visit turned out to be extremely fruitful.
Rudra Shriram
“I think for the delegation it has been an eye-opening experience, with the sheer scale of Eurosatory and we understand why a show like this lasts five days. We are hopeful that for the the next time there will be a lot more interest amongst other companies to come here,” Rudra Shriram, Co-Chair, FICCI Defence And Homeland Security Committee and Deputy Managing Director, DCM Shriram International, a leading Indian conglomerate, with extensive presence in industrial fibres, defence equipments, shipping containers and engineering products, tells Biz@India.
“Most companies that have come have come with a strategic objective for partnerships as this is an era of collaboration, more and more even in India and the core competency of defence manufacturing in India is growing on an exponential scale, whether it is subsystems or fully-integrated systems or even component level supply. Indian companies are more and more establishing themselves in various spaces over here,” Shriram adds.
Frank Jansens
While the Indian companies turned up at Eurosatory to tap the European market, a number of European companies were targetting the Indian market, which has consistently been the largest defence equipment importer. One such firm is John Cockerill, a Belgian defence manufacturer that makes strategic weapon systems, including tanks and armoured vehicles. The company has already made inroads into the Indian market and is now looking to bag meaningful deals.
“We consider India a strategic country, not only for defence, we are also active in hydrogen energy services and we have companies in India for decades, more in the services of steel and energy as we were part of ArcelorMittal in the past. So we have a relationship with India. In defence, our business is pretty new. For the Indian Light Tank (ILT) project, we are working together with all the potential bidding companies, including L&T, Mahindra, Bharat Forge, Tata and AVNL. We delivered two 105 mm turrets, the same as on the Fendris, to L&T and they integrated it on a track vehicle. Also, the Indian Army is currently conducting some tests for winter trials, summer trials and high altitude, because it is to be used in the Himalaya at the Chinese border. And we hope that after all those tests, there will be an order by the Indian Army,” Frank Jansens, General Manager, Weapons Systems, John Cockerill, tells Biz@India.
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“To localise our products, we have signed a joint venture agreement with EPHL in Pune. They have already a lot of business in defence. We consider them as a very good partner to localise the production of our 105 mm turrets in India. So we started from zero about five years ago. Now we have a joint venture agreement with EPHL and we are working with five major companies in India. So it is progressing,” Jansens adds.
Lucas Le Bell
Like John Cockerill, French anti-drone manufacturer Cerbair, has also made its mark in India and Lucas Le Bell, Chief Executive Officer, says that India is a key partner in many ways.
“We have about 90 pc of the turnover that is coming from the export market, which is a sign of good health, I guess, for the company. We sold the company to a large French investment firm and the goal is to basically become a global player with a European major footprint at the core of our technologies,” Le Bell tells Biz@India.
“India is one of our very large export markets and we are working closely with some of the Indian institutional customers. We have established a partnership with Paras Antidrone and it has been pretty fruitful so far. We have managed to develop, like basically to work on various areas like technical cooperation and sales cooperation. So, basically our detection technology is being promoted through their channel and together we can address some export market as well,” Le Bell adds.
Krishnamurthy H K
A unique Indian presence was marked by Tamilan, a start-up based in Chennai, which has showcased its drone solutions at Eurosatory. Tamilan was selected by the organisers of Eurosatory to be part of its Eurosatory Labs, a dedicated space for start-ups from around the world and which allowed the selected firms to showcase their technologies and products at a small fraction of price.
“It has been very good and it was very motivating to be selected as a startup in the Innovation lLab. We had some very good enquiries from Ministries of Defence from all over the world and I wish and pray the same is being reciprocated by my country. I need to follow up on couple of enquiries what we have received from. They are all very serious and very big enquiries. Hope to materialise and encash the success of Eurosatory,” Krishnamurthy H K, Managing Director, Tamilan the Drone, tells Biz@India.
The wideranging success for Indian and foreign exhibitors at Eurosatory sends strong signals that the Indian defence industry is primed to continue to make its mark globally and is set to lead to further increases in defence manufacturing capabilities of the Indian companies and rising exports from India.
