BattlePolicy Events Guide Grows to 96 Defense-Tech Fairs in 49 Countries

The updated guide adds 42 events and three regions, and rates each show by how well it suits a young company.

BattlePolicy's events guide now lists 96 events in 49 countries. The previous version held 54 events in 24 countries. The update adds 42 shows and three regions. Every event's next-edition status has been re-checked.

The split by region: Europe 38, Indo-Pacific 23, North America 18, Middle East 11, Latin America 4 and Africa 2. The Middle East, Latin America and Africa are new.

42 new events and updated next-edition checks

The additions include IDEX and NAVDEX (Abu Dhabi, 25–29 Jan 2027), Dubai Airshow (15–19 Nov 2027), World Defense Show (Riyadh), DIMDEX (Doha) and IDEF (Istanbul). SOFEX (Aqaba, 26–29 Oct 2026) is in. So are LAAD Defence & Security (Rio de Janeiro, 13–16 Apr 2027) and FIDAE (Santiago). AFRIDEX (Lagos, 26–29 Oct 2026) and Africa Aerospace and Defence (Pretoria) join them. The Indo-Pacific list gains Singapore Airshow, Indo Defence (Tangerang, Greater Jakarta, 12–15 May 2027) and Airshow China (Zhuhai, 7–13 Dec 2026).

We re-checked every event's next edition on 22 Oct 2026. A date appears only when the organizer has announced it or it is clearly reported. Dates are never guessed from an event's usual cycle. As a result, 79 events show a dated next edition. The other 17 say "Next edition not yet announced."

Examples of confirmed dates: Eurosatory, 19–23 Jun 2028; Farnborough International Airshow, 17–21 Jul 2028; DSEI UK, 7–10 Sep 2027; MSPO, 31 Aug–3 Sep 2027; AUSA Annual Meeting, 11–13 Oct 2027.

Some shows were left out on purpose: shows with no exhibition floor, a dormant show, and shows with no announced next edition. Entry requires a recurring or announced trade-facing format, a meaningful defense or military-technology component, and a plausible route for industry participation.

Five verdicts, one Eurosatory card

Each event carries a stage-fit verdict. By each event's first verdict, the counts are: Exhibit now, 31; Shared pavilion first, 19; Attend first, 33; Selective or mature, 5; Monitor, 8. Eight events also carry a second verdict. The page's standfirst gives the logic: "The strongest early-stage routes are the events that create a smaller market inside the larger floor."

Eurosatory shows how a card works. It is rated "Exhibit now" through its startup area, the LAB, and "Selective or mature" for a standalone stand. The card lists:

• the event name, linked to the organizer's site, with city and country
• the next-edition date (19–23 Jun 2028), linked to its source, plus region and evidence-status chips
• a short summary: the central global land and air-land defense show, where the LAB gives startups a selected, visible area
• the verdict with one sentence of advice
• the typical window, with June highlighted on a 12-month strip and a biennial cadence badge
• the startup route: the LAB presents roughly 60 selected startups
• scale figures: 2026 organizer material cites 2,600+ exhibitors from 68 countries and 350+ delegations
• technology tags and the buyers sought

Monitor marks a market to watch. Airshow China carries that verdict: the guide treats it as an intelligence source on Chinese drones, air defense and export offerings. AFRIDEX is Monitor because it is a first edition with no realized numbers yet.

Six counter-UAS shows, 11 in the Middle East

The guide has five filters: Region, Stage fit, Technology tag, Buyer sought and Evidence status. They cover 6 regions, 5 verdicts and 86 technology tags. Buyer sought spans 263 buyer groups, from defense ministries and primes to named agencies such as Armscor or the Bundeswehr. Evidence statuses are confirmed, forecast, schedule uncertain and adjacent. A live counter shows the number of matching events. Reset filters clears the selected filters.

Filters combine. Selecting "counter-UAS" and "Exhibit now" returns 6 of 96 events. The matches are Modern Day Marine, XPONENTIAL, Estonian Defence Week, Enforce Tac, Defense Tech Expo and "UMEX and SimTEX." Modern Day Marine comes first, in Washington on 13–15 Apr 2027.

The Region filter set to Middle East returns 11 events. The first under Exhibit now is Defense Tech Expo in Tel Aviv, first held in February 2026. Its Innovation Arena puts startups in front of foreign delegations.

Two groupings organize the list. "Stage-fit ladder" is the default and groups events by verdict. "By region" starts with North America, 18 events, with CANSEC on top.

Below the events, "Country notes, not events" records four countries where no event met the inclusion test. Ireland has a thin bench. Austria, Switzerland and Hungary have adjacent events only.

The Wire and homepage link to the same data

The Wire now shows the next 10 events in its right-hand column, soonest first, with a "Full calendar" link to the events guide. The column is generated from the same data as the guide, so the two lists cannot drift apart.

The homepage carries an events band reading "96 events, 49 countries, 5 stage-fit verdicts," with an "Open guide" link.

The first two entries in The Wire's list are AFRIDEX (Lagos) and SOFEX (Aqaba), both running 26–29 Oct 2026. Euronaval opens next in Paris on 3 Nov 2026.