Eurosatory 2020

08/06/202024/06/2020 Paolo Valpolini

June 8th 2020

Dear EDR On-Line readers,

today many of us should have met at the Parc des Expositions de Villepinte for the opening of the 2020 edition of Eurosatory. This is not going to happen as the pandemic that hit the world a few months ago led to the cancellation of many public events, among which the reference exhibition for the land defence sector.

I personally lack this event very much, having attended all the editions, and having seen it growing in importance and dimensions since 1992 when the Franco-French Satory exhibition, that was taking place close to Versailles, was moved to Le Bourget airport becoming Eurosatory, defined as the “European exhibition for land Defence equipment.” Since then it never ceased to grow, moving to new premises in the year 2000, the Villepinte exhibition area where it takes place now.

Talking recently to many people involved in the Defence business, most of them told me they really lack the exhibitions, all were cancelled since last February, and Eurosatory in particular.

The decision to talk to as many companies as possible trying to get what they would have exhibited at Villepinte and put those information in our articles does not mean we pretend to replace the Paris event, we just hope to compensate a minimum the lack of it. Some companies reacted with enthusiasm, some didn’t had much to tell us as the lockdown heavily hit the development work that was underway in order to bring some new products to Paris, other decided to keep their new products to unveil them during some incoming event, and we fully respect their stance.

In these pages we will provide you a direct link to our paper issue, that would have been distributed at Eurosatory, and an interview with the exhibition General Manager, who announces some interesting initiatives and gives us the feeling of what it meant cancelling the show after having worked hard for two years to make it successful.

Last but not least, a series of articles on what you would have seen at the Parc des Expositions, if that damn virus would have not stopped the world.

I am already looking forward to June 13^th 2022, although I do hope that what I often define as a “moving circus”, that is the sequence of exhibitions that allow us to meet in person around the world, would soon restart, and that the pretty bad moments that we lived in the past month would remain a bad memory.

Enjoy reading. Sincerely