Eurosatory, the international land defense and security exhibition, opens this Monday, June 17 near Paris in a context of a global increase in military budgets and support for Ukraine. Consequence for Eurosatory: more than two thousand exhibitors from 61 countries and 250 official delegations are expected at the Villepinte exhibition center for this show which is held every two years. One absent this year: Israel, which was not invited to participate in the show due to the offensive in Gaza.
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This year, Eurosatory is full and even if the Israeli manufacturers are not there, such a level of attendance has never been reached. The demand for arms is enormous and once again, it is the Ukrainian theater which dictates the trend, underlines Léo Péria-Péigné, arms specialist at Ifri.
“ Eurosatory in general is the biggest show in the world in terms of land defense and, at each edition, you have a major that emerges in a more or less detailed manner. Two years ago, it was very clearly carried artillery. You had howitzers everywhere because that’s what was put on the picture in Ukraine. The artillery, we saw that it was important », deciphers the specialist. “ This will still be the case, I think, today, but this year, I will bet on the importance of close anti-drone defense systems, because we have seen its development in Ukraine and also concealment systems like Saab can produce some including multispectral nets which avoid having too much radiation and are detectable with a thermal camera or other. »
During the previous edition in 2022, the president Emmanuel Macron had called to move into France to a war economy. Two years later, doubts arise about the continuation of this project in the event of a political change. The war industry objective has never been achieved and there is still a lack of powder to accelerate the manufacture of shells, recalls Léo Péria-Peigné.
We have a relative reinvestment in many areas which allows us to produce a little more, a little faster, even if we are still very far from the notion of a war economy which was abandoned two years ago…
Léo Péria-Péigné, arms specialist at Ifri
Among the 43 national pavilions, those of Saudi Arabia, the Emirates and Ukraine are a first. Also note the return of China after the pandemic, Beijing which will be well represented at Eurosatory this year, with no less than 64 exhibitors.
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Israel persona non grata
All Israeli companies, in total 74, are prohibited from staying in Villepinte where this international exhibition is taking place. A boycott very poorly received by Israelreports our correspondent in Jerusalem, Michael Paul.
For Avi Pazner, a former Israeli ambassador to Paris, it recalls dark periods in French history. “ After the status of Jews, we now have a status of Israelis in France “, he asserts with bitterness. A lawyer points out to him that the Chinese who massacre Uighurs will be welcomed with open arms at the show.
Anger also from those responsible for Israeli military industries. For less than that, says one of their representatives, the Israeli ambassador should have been recalled.
The Israeli Minister of Defense created a surprise with a particularly muscular reaction. France has adopted hostile policies towards Israel, Yoav Gallant proclaimed, rejecting any cooperation from France in efforts to avoid a flare-up of the conflict between Israel and Lebanon. Comments then qualified as incorrect and inappropriate by Israeli diplomacy in a bid to calm things down.
For one commentator, the repercussions of this boycott are more serious than the recognition of the Palestinian state by France would have been.
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