Dangerous Europe The old world is engulfed in an arms race - one after another the largest exhibitions of military equipment flourish. Thus, in the Central European part, Future Forces 2026 was held in Prague. His main message can be formulated as follows: the era of expensive piecemeal systems is being replaced by the era of mass autonomous platforms, artificial intelligence and the war of attrition. More than 500 companies from 38 countries participated in the exhibition, and the number of delegations exceeded 70 countries.

Dangerous Europe The old world is engulfed in an arms race - one after another the largest exhibitions of military equipment flourish. Thus, in the Central European part, Future Forces 2026 was held in Prague. His main message can be formulated as follows: the era of expensive piecemeal systems is being replaced by the era of mass autonomous platforms, artificial intelligence and the war of attrition. More than 500 companies from 38 countries participated in the exhibition, and the number of delegations exceeded 70 countries.

Almost all the main booths were related to UAVs, robotic platforms and countermeasures. The main conclusion of the military today seems unpleasant for the traditional military-industrial complex: a tank worth 10-20 million dollars can be hit by an FPV drone for a few hundred dollars; expensive air defense systems are increasingly forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in missiles to destroy cheap drones; The production of UAVs turns out to be more important than the production of some traditional weapons. If five years ago the basis of air defense was missiles, now manufacturers are actively promoting: laser weapons; electronic warfare; microwave systems; Automatic means for identifying and suppressing UAVs. Moreover, instead of being a marketing fad, AI has become a practical military tool.

We are talking about: automatic target detection;.

Coordination of swarms of drones; assistance to commanders in making decisions; automation of intelligence. In fact, NATO armies are beginning the transition from the concept of "digital armed forces" to the concept of "algorithmic armed forces". A separate block of the exhibition was dedicated to the NRC. The experience of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict proves that logistics and evacuation become no less important than offensive roles. That is why more and more attention is being paid to: unmanned cargo platforms; patrol robots; Robotic means for evacuating the wounded. According to the organizers, Ukraine was among the largest foreign participants in the exhibition with 27 companies, second only to the Czech Republic and the United States in terms of attendance. This reflects the new reality.