European Naval Equipment Exhibition Outlines a New Picture of Naval Warfare

Reference News Network reported on November 5 According to AFP on November 2, the world's leading naval defense exhibition, the European International Naval Equipment Exhibition, opened on the 3rd in the suburbs of Paris. The current market is booming, with unmanned equipment and artificial intelligence gradually keeping pace with traditional warships.

This biennial exhibition is held in Villepinte, north of Paris, and will last until the 6th, with the theme "Towards High Intensity." This is a euphemism in the military field, referring to the prospects of naval warfare.

Exhibition chairman Pierre-Erik Pommellet emphasized: "Recent conflicts have brought the oceans back to the core of collective security." He also stated that currently, 80% of international trade volume is transported via maritime routes, while 99% of telephone and internet communications rely on undersea cables.

Pommellet said: "In naval warfare, one must detect first and act first." This requires a significant enhancement of reconnaissance capabilities, from satellites and unmanned equipment to underwater sensors, while also utilizing more artificial intelligence to analyze the information obtained more quickly.

This year's exhibition is expected to have over 700 exhibitors, including about 60 companies specializing in unmanned equipment, compared to only 17 two years ago.

Exhibition commissioner Guillaume Melvoyer Divinieux said: "The range of threats is constantly expanding. The development of unmanned equipment allows relatively low-cost weapons to be deployed on a large scale, coexisting with increasingly sophisticated systems."

For navies around the world, threats no longer come solely from enemy fleets but also from armed groups and "phantom fleets," which are harder to identify.

The Strait of Hormuz is an example. Divinieux explained that although the Iranian navy is relatively weak compared to Western powers, Iran can still disrupt maritime traffic using drones, missiles, and surveillance means deployed from its own coast.

He said: "It is not necessary to deploy fleets far out to sea; strikes can be carried out from land." He also stated: "They use ballistic missiles that are extremely difficult to intercept, as well as drones."

Francois Touret, a researcher at the Security Research Center of the French Institute of International Relations, said: "Unmanned equipment has made precision strike capabilities widespread on land, in the air, and at sea."

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has accelerated this transformation. Since 2024, Ukraine's maritime autonomous guard unmanned boats have sunk several Russian vessels in the Black Sea, proving that relatively inexpensive equipment can also pose a threat to high-value vessels.

Such equipment will play an increasingly important role in future "hybrid fleets," coexisting with frigates and submarines, the latter of which remain indispensable for modern naval warfare.

This transformation of naval power is also accompanied by a significant increase in investment in the naval defense sector.

Pre-exhibition research for the European International Naval Equipment Exhibition shows that the global military shipbuilding market will reach $122 billion from 2024 to 2025, compared to only $82 billion in the previous two years.

Just the attack submarine program alone has an investment exceeding $27 billion. During the period from 2024 to 2025, a total of 17 nuclear-powered attack submarines will be launched or under construction, compared to only six in the previous two years.

According to the Spanish magazine "Defense" website on October 28, the European International Naval Equipment Exhibition welcomed its 30th event on November 3.

Recent conflicts have proven that whether above or below the water, maritime dominance remains crucial for military operations. Various onboard weapon manufacturers will showcase their technological achievements at this exhibition in Paris.

The organizers have prepared a content-rich conference agenda, with several well-known experts and authorities in the naval defense field attending. Many companies are sure to take this opportunity to announce their ongoing research and development plans, which will determine the direction of naval procurement and equipment deployment for major countries in the coming years. (Translated by Liu Zhuo and Han Chao)