FIELD REPORT: Eurosatory 2026 — Ukraine goes from 10 to 80 defense companies in Paris

Introduction: Paris, world capital of modern warfare

A trade show that tells the story of the world as it has become

From June 15 to 19, 2026, the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Center became the stage for an unprecedented demonstration of force. Eurosatory 2026, the world's largest land defense and security exhibition, hosted more than 2,600 exhibitors from 61 countries, in front of official delegations representing 93 nations. In this giant hangar where the capacity to wage war is bought and sold, one presence dominated all debates: that of Ukraine.

This is no small detail. In 2024, during the previous edition, ten Ukrainian companies were at Villepinte. In 2026: eighty. An eightfold increase in two years, which says everything about the military industrial revolution this country has achieved under bombardment. Ukraine is no longer just a recipient of Western aid. In a few years of total war, it has become a technological defense exporter seeking global partnerships.

When war manufactures an industry

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oksana Ferchuk had warned during a preparatory video conference with Charles Beaudouin, Director General of Eurosatory: ‘This year, Eurosatory is our show.’ The phrase was no mere bravado. It was an exact prediction. In five days in Paris, the Ukrainian war industry showed that it has moved from emergency survival to the stage of a rising industrial power, capable of rivaling — and sometimes surpassing — Western standards in the niches it now masters: long-range drones, ballistic missiles, electronic warfare, autonomous systems.

From 10 to 80: The arithmetic of national survival

A structural transformation accelerated by war

The progression from 10 to 80 exhibitors doesn’t just reflect a communication strategy. It translates a profound mutation of the Ukrainian defense economy since the full-scale invasion of February 2022. Before the invasion, the sector was dominated by a heavy and un-agile state-owned monopoly, Ukroboronprom, a Soviet legacy. Four years later, the Ukrainian ecosystem includes hundreds of private companies — software studios, drone workshops, electronic suppliers, ammunition subcontractors — all geared toward the immediate operational needs of the front.

According to data cited at Eurosatory, Ukrainian defense industrial capacities now reach a projection of $55 billion, or 55 times their level at the start of the war. More than 70% of Ukraine’s 2025 weapons spending was directed toward domestic production. International support for the sector amounted to $6.7 billion, coming from partners like the European Union, the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, and Denmark.

Ukraine: Fifth-largest national delegation by number of exhibitors

This massive presence makes Ukraine the fifth-largest national delegation in the exhibitor rankings, behind France, the United States, Germany, and Australia. It is a symbolic and strategic validation: Kyiv is sitting at the same table as the world's greatest military powers, no longer as a recipient of aid, but as a full-fledged player in the global arms market. Director General Beaudouin himself noted that Ukrainian companies ‘are looking for partnerships but also to sell their equipment.’

Fire Point: The star of a trade show that smelled of gunpowder

A booth that looked like a war communiqu

In this vast exhibition space, one name polarized attention far beyond usual expectations: Fire Point. The Ukrainian long-range drone and missile company, founded in 2022, was participating in Eurosatory for the first time with an independent booth. There, it presented its entire product line: the FP-1 and FP-2 strike drones, the FP-5 Flamingo surface-to-surface cruise missile, the FP-7 anti-ballistic ballistic missile, and the brand-new FP-9, an operational-range ballistic missile.

But what pushed the Fire Point booth into another dimension was an event that occurred on the night of June 17 to 18: a successful Ukrainian strike on the Moscow oil refinery. According to released videos, an FP-1 strike drone was intercepted at the last moment by Russian defenses, but its warhead detonated, causing major damage to the facilities. Before noon the next day, the video of the attack was playing on a loop on the giant screen at the Fire Point booth, behind life-size models of the FP-5, FP-7, and FP-9. The effect on visitors was electric.

The FP-1 drones that light up the Moscow sky

According to Denis Shtilerman, co-founder and chief engineer of Fire Point, the company's long-range drones are responsible for approximately 60% of strikes on targets located in Russian territory and about 60% of hits on medium-range targets. This figure, stated during the exhibition, is staggering: a single private company, founded in the middle of a war, carries the majority of Ukraine’s deep offensive weight. Shtilerman formulated what has become the motto for the entire Ukrainian defense industry: ‘For Ukrainian companies, the expression “time to market” translates as “time to front.”’

FP-5 Flamingo: The pink missile that makes Moscow tremble

A pink-painted ogre with a 3,000-kilometer range

At the center of the Fire Point booth stood an improbable object: the FP-5 Flamingo, a surface-to-surface cruise missile with a mass of 6,000 kg, painted in an impossible-to-ignore bright pink. Its numbers are striking: a range of 3,000 km, an ogive of 1,150 kg, a cruise speed between 650 and 700 km/h, and a maximum speed of 950 km/h. This isn’t a mockup. It’s a system currently in production, already used according to Fire Point against Russian military industrial targets.

Fire Point announced at Eurosatory that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with German high-tech radar manufacturer Hensoldt to integrate TRML-4D radars into the Freyja missile defense system. This radar is capable of simultaneously tracking more than 1,500 targets at a range of up to 250 km. ‘We lacked the radars to implement Freyja, but now we have them, and we can move from concept to practical implementation of the pan-European anti-ballistic shield,’ stated Iryna Terekh, CEO and CTO of Fire Point.

Freyja: The Ukrainian Patriot at a third of the price

The Freyja project is Fire Point’s ultimate ambition: to build a pan-European anti-ballistic system with the capabilities of the American Patriot, but at one-third of the cost. The price for an interceptor missile is announced at less than one million dollars. The first launch is scheduled by the end of 2027. The interceptor version will be based on the FP-7 missile, whose ballistic version is described as being ‘in the very final phase of development.’

FP-7 and FP-9: The missiles changing the strategic equation

The FP-7: Fighting Russian ballistics with a 90% localized Ukrainian system

The FP-7 missile is presented as the Ukrainian alternative to the American ATACMS. In its ballistic version, it boasts a range of 250 km, a payload of 200 kg, a declared accuracy of 14 meters, an apogee of 50 km, and a maximum speed of 1,500 m/s (5,400 km/h). Its solid propellant rocket motor propels the missile toward its target in a maximum time of 250 seconds. Fire Point claims a production localization of 90% in Ukraine.

This missile is also intended to become the projectile for the defensive anti-aircraft version of Freyja. In this configuration, the FP-7 will be adapted to intercept incoming long-range ballistic missiles, with maneuverability enhanced by a possible thrust vectoring system in the initial flight phases. The defensive version is described as aerodynamically operational, executing ‘all command orders — precisely and aggressively, exactly as required to shoot down ballistic targets,’ according to Shtilerman.

The FP-9: Moscow within Ukrainian firing range

The most spectacular piece of the show, in terms of strategic capacity, is undoubtedly the FP-9. This ballistic missile under development carries an 800 kg warhead over a distance of 850 km, with an accuracy of 20 meters and a maximum speed reaching 2,100 m/s (7,560 km/h). With a range of 850 km from Ukrainian territory, Moscow would for the first time be within range of an entirely national Ukrainian system. The missile's apogee is 50 km, and its maximum flight time is 520 seconds. Fire Point also presented its own rocket motor for the FP-9 at Eurosatory, developed entirely in Ukraine.

The Moscow refinery attack: War as a real-time spectacle

When the frontline enters the exhibition hall

On the night of June 17 to 18, 2026, on the fourth day of Eurosatory, the Moscow oil refinery was hit. Fire Point’s FP-1 drones, strange 6-meter wingspan straight-winged objects powered by an internal combustion engine driving a two-blade propeller, penetrated the Russian capital’s defenses. The refinery suffered damage to an integrated refining unit, three RVS-10,000 tanks, and one RVS-30,000 tank. Videos showed a tank lid — with a diameter estimated at 14 meters according to unverified sources — projected into the sky and falling in a spin.

These images were playing on a loop at the Fire Point booth before noon the next day, on the giant screen surrounded by life-size models. According to EDR Magazine, the coincidence generated even greater interest in the company: visitors crowded around, Western generals asked technical questions, and industrialists took notes. The frontline and the trade fair were now one and the same place.

The FP-1: Kamikaze planes that have become omnipresent in Moscow's skies

The FP-1 shares the same airframe as the FP-2: 6-meter straight wings, square-section fuselage, inverted V-tail. Both models have a maximum takeoff weight of 330 kg and a cruise speed between 140 and 180 km/h. Where they diverge: the FP-1 carries a 60 kg warhead over 2,700 km with 18 hours of flight time, compared to a 200 kg warhead and 700 km for the FP-2 (4 hours of flight time). Both models can be launched from a ramp or from a moving truck on a paved road. At Eurosatory, Fire Point presented an updated version of the FP-1/2 with extended range and onboard artificial intelligence.

The diversity of the Ukrainian arsenal on display in Paris

Beyond Fire Point: A complete ecosystem

Fire Point was not alone. Ukraine deployed a veritable catalog of modern warfare weaponry at Eurosatory 2026. Skyeton presented the Raybird, a reconnaissance drone with over 350,000 combat flight hours. Ukrspecsystems displayed the SHARK-M, an ISR drone capable of operating 180 km from its operator. Global Mark unveiled the TRITON, a 6.9-meter uncrewed surface vessel designed to launch drones and missiles, and the Sea Trident, a heavy 10-ton underwater drone that can deliver up to 1,000 kg of cargo over a distance of 2,000 nautical miles.

OM Defense Systems presented the Drone Squad Fury, a modular platform that can carry an assault machine gun, mortar mines, or a Starlink communication pod — developed at the request of Ukrainian special services. The same company showed the SPECTR decoy system, an autonomous anti-jamming drone designed to exhaust enemy air defense resources. DG Industries unveiled the world premiere of the Vyrivnyuvach kit, which converts a standard 250 kg bomb into a guided glide bomb with a range of over 130 km.

The Ukrainian Navy joins the party at Villepinte

Ukroboronprom presented the UAV-290, a jet-powered strike drone, while Global Mark displayed the most advanced version of the Sea Trident: a 10-meter autonomous underwater drone capable of navigating at 60 meters of depth at a cruise speed of 6 knots (11 km/h). The drone is described as responsible for a significant share of the destruction of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, one-third of whose naval forces have been neutralized. SpetsTechnoExport presented the DRAGON system, a surface-to-surface launcher using refurbished R-60, R-73, and AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missiles for ground engagements.

“Defense Valley”: The nickname that says it all

Ukraine as the global laboratory for technological defense

Yaroslav Azhniuk, founder and CEO of the Ukrainian drone manufacturer The Fourth Law, present at Eurosatory, explained to the CNA agency that his products currently equip more than 70 military units. He summarized the Ukrainian competitive advantage in one formula: 12 years of war with Russia have given Ukraine unparalleled expertise, with frontline feedback integrated in real-time into new technologies. This feedback, he says, places Ukraine at the forefront of a new wave of defensive innovation. Some observers now speak of Ukraine as a “Defense Valley” — in the mold of Silicon Valley — in the military field.

The European Union itself has recognized this transformation. During his speech at Eurosatory, European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius highlighted that the Ukrainian defense industry had grown from 1 billion euros in 2022 to 50 billion euros in 2026, illustrating what he called “the massive big bang of Ukrainian defense production” and the shift from a state monopoly to a dynamic and competitive private sector.

Two-thirds are drone manufacturers, and two-thirds are newcomers

The daily Le Monde noted a structural peculiarity: the vast majority of Ukrainian exhibitors are participating in Eurosatory for the first time, and two-thirds of them are drone manufacturers. This composition reflects the nature of the conflict and the operational priorities of the Ukrainian armed forces. The newspaper also noted organizational fragmentation: unlike other national delegations, Ukraine does not form a unified block. Companies are spread across several booths — SpetsTechnoExport, the private associations NAUDI and the Ukrainian Defense Industry Council, and independents like Fire Point.

The Brave France Agreement: Paris invests in Ukrainian innovation

20 million euros to test the war of tomorrow in Ukraine today

On the sidelines of Eurosatory, the Brave1 defense innovation cluster and the French Defense Innovation Agency (AID) signed a partnership agreement — the ‘Brave France’ program — with a budget of 20 million euros (10 million per side). This program funds joint R&D projects in the fields of missile technologies, uncrewed systems, and air defense. The first company consultations are planned for September 2026, with individual grants of up to 1 million euros.

The key to the program is the ‘Test in Ukraine’ platform: Franco-Ukrainian technologies can be tested in real combat conditions on Ukrainian territory. For France, this is access to a laboratory that the French army cannot reproduce in peacetime. For Ukraine, it is additional funding for the accelerated adaptation of technologies at the front. The signing was described by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense as a transition “from agreement in principle to concrete implementation.”

Germany wants to buy Ukrainian missiles

The German Ministry of Defense made known, on the sidelines of Eurosatory, its interest in acquiring low-cost long-range cruise missiles produced by Ukrainian and Israeli companies. Two Ukrainian systems were mentioned in the documents: Fire Point’s Flamingo and the BARS, a medium-range hybrid missile-drone from an unnamed manufacturer. The simultaneous participation of two Ukrainian developers in a major Bundeswehr tender is described as a historical first, signaling a significant technological breakthrough for Kyiv. Fire Point representatives noted during the exhibition that the main obstacle to integration into the European market is not technology or competition — it is European bureaucracy.

Ukrainian drone production: Numbers that make your head spin

160 companies, 8 million units, 60% of Russian losses

The statistics presented at Eurosatory provide a concrete measure of the industrialization of the Ukrainian war. More than 160 companies are now producing FPV (First Person View) drones in Ukraine. The declared annual capacity exceeds 8 million units. According to official Ukrainian data, FPV drones are responsible for more than 60% of Russian losses in 2025. At the same time, Ukraine produced 100,000 interception drones in 2025, involving more than 20 companies, with a claimed interception efficiency of more than 60%.

These figures transform the relationship with mass warfare. Where traditional artillery required decades of industrial investment, an FPV drone costs a few hundred dollars, is produced in converted garages, and can be operational within days of manufacture. This logic of volume and cost is at the heart of Ukrainian doctrine, and it is beginning to reshape the doctrinal thinking of European armies.

The Danish model: Funding Ukrainian weaponry with frozen Russian profits

The question of financing this colossal industrial effort is addressed by an innovative mechanism known as the ‘Danish model’: in June 2025, Denmark, Sweden, Canada, Norway, and Iceland agreed on an initial transfer of 428 million euros, partially funded by the profits from frozen Russian assets. The funds are directed straight to Ukrainian production of artillery capacities, strike drones, missiles, and anti-tank systems. The total expected for 2025 reached 1.3 billion euros. This mechanism allows allies to acquire Ukrainian weapons for Ukrainian forces, keeping production lines active without depleting Western stockpiles.

The challenges of integration into Western markets

Certification, quality control, component security: The real obstacles

Speed is the primary asset of the Ukrainian defense industry, but it is also its Achilles' heel in export markets. Systems developed in wartime can encounter serious obstacles regarding NATO certification, standardized quality control, export licensing, electronic component security (often of foreign origin), and the vulnerability of factories to Russian missile strikes. Frontline feedback timeframes accelerate development cycles in a way that NATO acquisition agencies do not accept without further qualification.

Evan Lerouvillois, defense analyst at Army Recognition, points out that Ukraine provides practical answers on issues of mass, attrition, repair, resistance to electronic warfare, and short production cycles. But these answers do not always match the normative frameworks of Western institutional buyers. The Ukrainian organizational fragmentation at Eurosatory itself — several distinct pavilions, no unified entry portal — illustrates the road remaining toward a fully mature commercial presence in export markets.

Seducing armies without bureaucracy: The Ukrainian challenge

There is a fundamental tension between Ukraine’s culture of agility — which is its strength — and the requirements of Western institutional acquisition cycles, which span years. Ukraine can move from an idea to an operational system in a few weeks. A standard Western army takes years to validate a system, even one bought off the shelf. The Ukrainians, according to observations gathered at the show, do not always understand the legal and administrative constraints that slow down purchasing decisions in Europe. Iryna Terekh and other leaders expressed this frustration openly during Eurosatory.

The Ukrainian defense industry as seen from Moscow

Putin face-to-face with the adversary he created

The explosive growth of the Ukrainian defense industry is, in a sense, the direct consequence of Vladimir Putin’s strategic choices. By launching a full-scale war of invasion in February 2022, he had hoped to demilitarize and subdue Ukraine in a matter of days. He instead triggered the greatest industrial defense mobilization a European country has seen since World War II. Every Russian strike on a Ukrainian factory resulted in the creation of decentralized replacement workshops, harder to target. Every ammunition shortage created a Ukrainian ammunition company.

Russia, for its part, has found itself dependent on Iranian Shahed kamikaze drones, produced under license within Russia itself, and ballistic missiles supplied by Kim Jong-un’s North Korea. This is not exactly the demonstration of a self-sufficient superpower. Meanwhile, Ukraine signs memorandums with Hensoldt in Paris, negotiates with the Bundeswehr in Berlin, and launches a co-development program with the French AID. The asymmetry in trajectory could not be more striking.

China and Iran lying in wait

The strength of the Ukrainian-Western defense alliance is also being tested by the indirect support given to Moscow’s allies. China — the greatest long-term systemic threat to the West — continues to provide Russia with dual-use electronic components, machine tools, and vehicles. Iran provides drones. North Korea provides artillery shells and troops on the ground. These three actors form an informal anti-Western coalition that Eurosatory 2026 implicitly but powerfully reminded us the West has not yet decided to counter in kind.

Eurosatory 2026: A historic edition under the sign of global rearmament

2,600 exhibitors, 61 countries, a central message: Prepare for war

Beyond the Ukrainian presence, Eurosatory 2026 was marked by an unprecedented global context. The number of exhibitors increased by 30% compared to 2024, exceeding 2,600 companies, of which 80% are from the European Union or NATO. Director General Beaudouin’s message was explicit: this edition is paced around the need to “prepare for war.” Major announcements punctuated the five days: Renault and Thales announced a partnership for the development of a 4×4 hybrid military vehicle, the 4 TROOP. Arms contracts worth billions of euros were negotiated behind the scenes.

The exhibition space was expanded to more than 185,000 m², with the opening of a new Hall 4. Dominant themes included multi-domain superiority, remote engagement, air-land mobility, industrial resilience, and trench warfare augmented by drones. This last notion, unthinkable a few years ago in a Western defense show, comes directly from the lessons of the Ukrainian front — further proof of the influence this conflict now exerts on global military doctrine as a whole.

The European Commissioner: “From 1 to 50 billion in four years”

The speech by Andrius Kubilius, European Commissioner for Defense and Space, left a mark. Speaking of the Ukrainian transformation, he declared: “‘Two years ago, there were only 10 Ukrainian companies at this conference. Today, there are 80 highly innovative ones. I am very happy they are here. They illustrate the massive big bang of Ukrainian defense production, from 1 billion in 2022 to 50 billion euros in 2026. And they illustrate the massive shift from state monopoly toward private companies.”’ These words, spoken at the heart of the world's largest arms show, summarize the nature of the ongoing revolution better than any analysis.

Conclusion: Paris witnessed the birth of a defense power

An industry born in pain, but very much alive

In five days at Villepinte, Ukraine demonstrated the irreversibility of its military industrial transformation. Four years of total war against Russia have produced a private defense ecosystem that is agile, productive, and now exportable. The 80 companies present at Eurosatory 2026 are not just window dressing. They are the representatives of a war economy that structured itself under bombs, that learned to produce ballistic missiles in Ukraine with 90% local components, and that signed agreements with Germany and France in the very show where it sought partnerships.

The next chapter belongs to the West

The next chapter will not be written in Paris. It will be written in European parliaments, in NATO acquisition agencies, and in ministries of defense that will have to decide whether the Ukrainian model inspires or disrupts their procedures. It will be written in Kyiv, in Fire Point’s workshops, Ukroboronprom’s hangars, and the garages of hundreds of defense startups that continue to innovate under Russian missiles. Ukraine has done its part. The West must now do its own — not by helping a country in danger, but by allying with an emerging military industrial power that shares its values, its interests, and its will to defend freedom.

Signed Maxime Marquette, columnist

Sources

Primary sources

EDR Magazine — Eurosatory 2026: Fire Point lights up the sky over Moscow (Paolo Valpolini) — June 19, 2026

Army Recognition — Ukraine Expands Eurosatory 2026 Presence From 10 to 80 Defense Firms Amid War With Russia — June 17, 2026

Eurosatory.com — Official site of the global land defense and security exhibition — 2026

Secondary sources

Militarnyi — Fire Point Unveils Machine Tools for Rocket Engine Production at Eurosatory — June 16, 2026

Defence Express (defence-ua.com) — Ukraine's Vyrivnyuvach Glide Bomb Kit Publicly Revealed for First Time at Eurosatory 2026 — June 16, 2026

RBC Ukraine — Ukraine's Shmavik drone and Defiant missiles steal the show at Eurosatory 2026 — June 19, 2026

UA.News — Fire Point Reveals When Ukraine Will Be Able to Shoot Down Ballistic Missiles Independently — June 16, 2026

UA.News — Ukraine and France Are Launching the Brave France Program with a Budget of €20 Million for Defense Innovation — June 17, 2026