Defense, Aerospace & Cyber Security Shows On The Rise, Several New Expos Launched

In the past five years, defense shows and exhibitions around the world have ballooned owing to the surge in demand for military technology and arms in growing markets. 

This surge is credited to an influx of new defense and aerospace exhibitions launched around the world. 

Kazakhstan hosted its first international arms show in 2010 called KADEX. Since then the biennial show has attracted the likes of Airbus Defense, Antonov, Israel Military Industries, Beechcraft and, MiG Corporation among others. 

In the Middle East, Bahrain launched the biennial Bahrain International Airshow in 2010 which has since attracted hundreds of companies while Kuwait similarly launched the Gulf Defense & Aerospace in 2011 and is gearing to host the third edition in December 2015. 

The United Arab Emirates launched the Naval Defence Exhibition (NAVDEX) in 2011 to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (IDEX).

With cyber security becoming a growing concern, Israel this year launched the first-ever Cyber Tech Israel (CTI) show which will be a “series of International Cyber Tech campaigns, to be held in close partnership with Israel Defense and in association with Israel National Cyber Bureau”.

Manila, Philippines will host the third edition of the Cyber Intelligence Asia in 2015. “Cyber Intelligence Asia is now in its third year and will provide attendees unrivalled opportunities to meet with the regions senior government officials who deal with cyber security,” according to the official website. 

The Border Management & Technologies Summit in 2015 will mark the show’s third anniversary as well. Set to be held in Istanbul, Turkey, an official statement from the organizers says, “The 2015 event will also take a greater look into the borders in Eastern Europe and their IBM strategies and future roadmap. Identity Management systems being developed at borders are becoming more sophisticated and our event will look into the different techniques used by border forces across Europe.”

And Rome will host the 2nd edition of CBRNe Summit and “will provide attendees with an overview of the key CBRNe threats that are being faced across the globe.” The main event focus will be on the threat intelligence of a CBRNe attack on a city, airport, train station, shopping mall, power grid, nuclear plant etc.  There will also be presentations on Military-Civil Methodologies, Technologies and Application to a CBRNe and WMD threat, according to an official statement.

The rise trade shows globally excludes only a handful of countries that do not host any kind of defense and aerospace exhibition including Sri Lanka, Burma and, Vietnam among others. Ghana was set to host Africa’s first air show in October this year called the African Air Expo however this show has been postponed due to E-bola concerns. 

While top companies such as Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin and Russia’s Rosoboronexport all attend about 20 shows each year which include LIMA, AUSA, IndoDefense and Eurosatory among others. In 2012, Airbus Defense and Space attended a whopping 41 shows globally. However it’s unclear how many shows the company will make it to in 2015.