Two visitors in Saudi dress watch a glowing holographic tank on a giant LED wall in a defence trade show lobby

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Defense Show

War also has its trade fairs. In carpeted, air-conditioned halls, missiles are presented like sculpture, machine guns rest on plinths, and a gold-engraved pistol passes from hand to hand between men in suits.

From Eurosatory and Euronaval in Paris to the World Defense Show in Riyadh and SOF Week in Tampa, the arms industry gathers its buyers under exhibition lighting: delegations pose in front of rockets, holographic tanks roll across LED walls, and everything — everything — is for sale. This series walks the aisles of the marketplace of modern war.

A Turkish arms manufacturer’s booth, pistols and machine guns displayed on plinths — A Turkish arms dealer waits for his coffee.

A visitor in a white thobe talks with Western executives at a stand of wall-mounted rifles — Negotiation between arms dealers.

A suited buyer grips an ornately engraved gold-plated pistol on a display rail — A gold-engraved pistol, tried like a watch.

At the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, an Israeli stand covered with black tarpaulins — At the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, the Israeli stands were banned — and covered with black tarpaulins.

Two large guided bombs jut from a sky-blue wall with a fighter jet mural as visitors mingle — A quest for aesthetics, even for missiles.

A tech company’s towering booth above a sepia mural of a special-forces soldier — The software of war has its own cathedral.

A white missile in the foreground of a pink-lit exhibition hall at Eurosatory 2022 — Eurosatory, Paris. A missile in pink light.

Missiles and rockets displayed diagonally on a corporate exhibition wall — ’Next is Now’.

A visitor poses hugging giant display rockets while a friend photographs him — A souvenir photo, arms around the rockets.

A military delegation watches a missile promotional film on a giant screen at Euronaval — Euronaval, Paris. The film shows what the missile does.

Missiles and guided shells displayed on artificial turf before a giant ’Precision Strike’ screen — ’Precision Strike’, on artificial turf.

A lone visitor studies a counter-drone quadcopter on a white plinth at the French Ministry of Defence stand — “Window-shopping.”

A jet-pack pilot flies low over the water during a demonstration at SOF Week in Tampa, Florida — A jet-pack demonstration in Florida, during SOF Week 2026.

Two executives contemplate an upright missile against a black slatted wall under a grey sky — The missile business.