This brief round-up focusses on just a few of the interesting subjects I spotted at the MILIPOL Paris defence and security expo last week, writes Bob Morrison.
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MILIPOL Paris, held at Parc des Expositions to the north of the French capital in November of alternate years to EUROSATORY, is more focussed on police and homeland security than the more military-orientated June expo taking place at the same venue in even years. Geared predominantly though not exclusively towards French and Western European markets, is also a little smaller than EUROSATORY and doesn’t feature anything like as much heavy equipment but that does not mean it is not worth visiting; indeed this is the fourth successive biennial event I have attended since the formation of JOINT-FORCES in 2018.
Like many of the smaller expos I attend, MILIPOL is primarily a combination of a research trip to ensure we are reasonably up to speed on new or forthcoming developments and a way of supporting our key sponsors / advertisers to publicise their products and systems. With the exception of a small number of ‘old faces’, quite a few journalists seem content to sit at their computer terminal, venturing out into the big world only to visit their national defence expo for a day or two and maybe attend the occasional Ministry-spun ‘media opportunity’… but whenever possible Carl and I prefer to try to be a little ahead of the curve rather than being behind it.
On the military scene, drones and counter-drones have very much been the topic of the day since Russia launched its thwarted invasion attempt on Kiev and its stalled advances through Eastern Ukraine back in February 2022 and the Ukrainian’s responded by thinking ‘out-of-the-box’ and finding makeshift ways of defeating them. On the homeland security side in Western Europe, however, much of the focus is still more on supplying police and gendarmerie with modernised kit to help them do their job better and more comfortably. That’s why boots and vehicles were my primary focus over the two full days I had devoted to covering MILIPOL from the halls despite my rather packed diary schedule this autumn.
Although Carl covered the last EUROSATORY on his own to take the pressure off me while I was undergoing medical treatment, he couldn’t do the same for me at MILIPOL as his presence was needed at the Rollout of First Leopard 2A8 Tanks in Munich ~ which unfortunately coincided with Day 2 of the French expo. Sometimes I am jealous of our Belgian friend Alain and his Army Recognition Team when they turn up mob-handed to cover defence expos… though I don’t envy him his stress levels one little bit.
The accompanying photos should give readers a brief insight of some of the subjects I plan to cover in more depth once I have completed a little more research and collating ~ plus I hopefully get around to shifting some more of that logjam that has been building up in this busier than ever world… but first I may need to get a forthcoming MENA assignment out of the way.
[images © Bob Morrison]
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