The world's largest arms fair sees an increase in the number of visitors amid global crisis

The world's largest arms exhibition, held in Paris this week, attracted huge crowds due to wars in Ukraine and Gaza and heightened tensions between the United States, Russia and China. Eurosatory 2024 has not been without controversy either.

Thousands of arms industry executives, arms dealers, military delegations and ordinary aficionados gathered throughout the week in the cavernous halls of the Villepinte exhibition center, close to the Charles de Gaulle airport.

More than 2,000 companies set up booths showcasing their – much of it lethal – hardware, ranging from hand-held Glock pistols and fully automatic machine guns to AI-guided RPGs and rocket launchers.

War zone support companies displayed body armor, Etendard tactical off-road motorcycles and gas masks for dogs.

Outside, an impressive display of heavy armor included the French-made César howitzer, German Leopard tanks and a forest of Aster and Mistral anti-ballistic missiles.

The French Ministry of Defense was present with a pavilion as well as its colleagues from the American army.

China's largest arms group, Norinco, displayed scale models of mobile rocket launchers against the backdrop of a huge LCD screen showing rockets exploding against a blue sky.

“The changing global security situation” means this year's show has attracted much more interest, a spokesperson for German tank maker Rheinmetal told RFI.

Marc Darmon, president of the French arms consortium GICAT, told a news conference that crises and conflicts overlap rather than replace each other.

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