World Defense Show 2026: Large vehicles and counter-drone systems take the limelight
Turkey’s BMC was one of the country’s four large vehicle companies at WDS, showing its Altug 8x8. (Photo: author)
Visitors who attended the first World Defense Show four years ago continue to speak of the difficulties they faced with poor facilities and power problems. This year’s event emphasised its status as one of the major defence expositions and as a place where regional players and those less welcome at other shows could take centre stage.
World Defense Show (WDS) 2026 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was the third iteration of the event which has increased in size by almost 60% since it first launched in 2022.
The show’s organisers, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), reported that 1,486 exhibitors from 89 countries attended, alongside 513 official delegations from 121 countries with a total of 137,000 visitors. GAMI also reported that 60 deals totalling SAR33 billion (US$8.8 billion) were signed during the show.
A notable absence from the show was Edge Group, which left a large hole in one of the halls as almost all UAE exhibitors pulled out
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