Euronaval 2024

11/11/202427/11/2024 Paolo Valpolini

The 29th edition of Euronaval was the first to take place at the Parc des Expositions in Villepinte, the previous editions all taking place at Le Bourget, where the exhibition started in 1968 with the name “Le Bourget Naval”, the naval equivalent of the “Salon du Bourget” also known as Paris Air Show, the aviation event which takes place on alternate years.

The new location has some major advantages in terms of public transport, and is even closer to the Charles de Gaulle Airport, allowing visitors to commute to Paris also for a single day.

The event opened its doors on Monday November 4^th, and on its opening day, the show welcomed the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Mr. Sébastien Lecornu, who visited defence companies to discover the latest developments in armament programs, other key political and military leaders, French and from friendly countries, visiting the Euronaval premises in the four days of the exhibition.

According to data provided by organisers, the single hall hosted 480 exhibitors, 55% coming from abroad and representing 30 nations, with the presence of 13 national pavilions. Some 26,000 professional visitors attended the exhibition, including 150 official delegations from 79 countries. Around 1,500 meetings between official delegates and industry representatives took place during the exhibition, as well as 1,250 business-to-business meetings between manufacturers. Around 350 accredited journalists reported on the event, highlighting the unveiling of numerous new naval systems.

Among those, surface, subsurface and airborne unmanned systems took the stage, not a surprise considering the lessons learned from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Numerous conferences and presentations took place in dedicated areas.

Talking to many professionals attending the exhibition, notwithstanding the numbers provided by the organisers, the feeling was that attendance was not as wide as in the past. Numerous nations were present only with SMEs, the overall international situation not helping, while the political problem with Israel prevented many industries from that country to be present in Paris, a replay of what happened in June at Eurosatory, and once again organisers were definitely not the culprits.

Hereafter EDR On-Line readers can find the articles related to some of the new defence systems unveiled at the Centre des Expositions of Villepinte during Euronaval 2024.