Former Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, and now a figure in the field of defense technologies, Dmytro Shymkiv, shared his impressions of the Eurosatory-2026 arms exhibition in Paris, comparing it to other leading industry events — SOF Week in Tampa and DSEI in London.
Former Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration, and now a figure in the field of defense technologies, Dmytro Shymkiv, shared his impressions of the Eurosatory-2026 arms exhibition in Paris, comparing it to other leading industry events — SOF Week in Tampa and DSEI in London.
According to Shymkiv, if we were to choose a benchmark among defense events, for him it would be SOF Week in Tampa and DSEI in London — «in my opinion, these events remain the best in terms of the quality of participants, the relevance of the solutions presented, the involvement of military end users, and the overall organization.»
Regarding Eurosatory, he noted: «It’s definitely impressive. It’s a huge, international and very representative exhibition. But for me it often feels more like a demonstration of national ambitions than a defense technology exhibition organized around real operational challenges and user needs.»
At the stands, he observed, «everything is mixed together: drones, optics, armored vehicles, communication systems, and a host of other technologies. The result is scale, but not necessarily a clear structure.»
Shymkiv noted: «What surprised me most was how little attention was paid to the technologies that are increasingly defining modern warfare: software, autonomous systems, artificial intelligence, semiconductor technologies, SDR solutions, communication architectures and data-driven systems.» According to him, «large equipment remains the most visible part of the exposition, but many of the truly important innovations today are happening in the field of software and computing systems.»
He added that «Ukrainian experience has shown that success increasingly depends on navigation, communications, electronic warfare (EW) resilience, artificial intelligence, and software, rather than just the platform itself.»
Comparing it to SOF Week, Shymkiv described the latter as «not just an exhibition» but «an ecosystem where users, government structures, procurement authorities, investors and industry interact. This is what creates real opportunities for transforming innovations into capabilities.» Against this background, he said, «Eurosatory seems more focused on demonstrating products (often not new and often unviable prototypes) than on creating a structured ecosystem around innovation, procurement and implementation.»
At the same time, he acknowledged the event’s value for networking: «Eurosatory remains a great place to meet partners, renew old contacts, build new connections and understand general industry trends.» However, in his experience, «it’s not a place where you regularly discover something truly new, groundbreaking or inspiring.»
Shymkiv described a technical problem during his own panel appearance: the «silent disco» format («the audience could hear us through headphones, but the panelists themselves could hardly hear each other. We also had difficulty hearing questions from the audience, which significantly complicated a meaningful discussion») — «this approach may solve the noise problem, but at the same time it creates a communication problem.»
Shymkiv separately noted the presence of Ukrainian companies: «It was very nice to see so many Ukrainian companies among the exhibition participants. Ukrainian defense technologies are becoming increasingly visible and respected in the international arena.»
At the same time, he called for more responsible self-presentation: «With increasing international attention, so does the responsibility for how we present ourselves to the world. A quadcopter with a Kalashnikov assault rifle attached may attract the attention of visitors and journalists, but it hardly demonstrates the true level of engineering culture, technological sophistication, and operational innovation that Ukrainian companies have achieved during the war years.»
Summing up, Shymkiv emphasized: «The Ukrainian defense industry has much more to offer the world than improvised or spectacular demonstrations. Our real strength lies in the ability to solve extremely complex operational tasks in conditions of constant adaptation to new threats, electronic warfare, resource shortages, and the rapid evolution of the battlefield.»
