Europe’s security landscape has not looked like this in a generation. The war in Ukraine has rewritten the operational playbook across land, air and cyber domains. Autonomous systems, counter-UAS technologies and electronic warfare are no longer future concepts – they are present requirements.
Against this backdrop, Prague will once again become a central forum for defence and security when the 16th Future Forces Exhibition & Forum (FF26) opens at PVA EXPO PRAGUE on 21–23 October 2026.
For over 25 years, Future Forces events have connected operational users, capability developers, policymakers and industry. What began as a specialised exhibition focused on individual soldier systems has evolved into one of the most important defence and security platforms in Europe.
FF26 is not a trade fair with a conference attached. It is a working platform combining three days of exhibition with official NATO working group sessions, more than 40 expert panels and conferences, bilateral meeting facilities and structured delegate engagement.
More than 400 exhibitors from over 35 countries will present across 20,000 square metres of exhibition space. Delegations from over 70 countries are expected to participate. The event is held under the auspices of the President and the Government of the Czech Republic, in close cooperation with NATO and EU structures.
A key strength of FF26 is its direct connection to Allied governance. Prague will host official sessions of the NATO Army Armaments Group (NAAG) Land Capability Group Dismounted Soldier Systems and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) Dismounted Soldier Equipment User Group. These are practical working platforms where interoperability standards, user requirements and procurement directions are shaped. A dedicated NATO Pavilion will provide structured engagement between Allied institutional representatives and the wider professional community.
The expert programme reflects the complexity of the current security environment. The Future Forces Conference opens with the strategic panel Defence 2035+: Adapting to the New Security Reality, setting the frame for a wider debate on where Allied capabilities must be in the coming decade.
From there, the programme moves into operational and technical areas: armed UAV operations, advanced sensing and electronic warfare, counter-UAS technologies, robotics and AI, CBRN innovation, battlefield medicine, cyber crisis preparedness, space as an operational domain, logistics and resilience of the state security system. Lessons from Ukraine run through many of these sessions – not as theory, but as direct operational input.
The Future of Cyber Conference will include a Live Hacking Zone and Cyber Escape Rooms, putting concepts into immediate practical context. The Future of Civil Security Conference, developed in cooperation with Ukraine’s defence and security industry association, will draw on hard-won operational experience from the conflict itself.
New for 2026, a mobile container live firing range – the first of its kind in the Czech Republic – will allow live testing of firearms, ammunition, ballistics, protection systems, optics and sensors directly within the exhibition environment.
FF26 is designed for those who must make consequential choices: senior officials, military leaders, procurement authorities, capability planners, R&D directors, industry representatives and diplomatic missions. Its value is not only in presenting technologies, but in connecting them with real operational needs.
The most valuable outcome of such a gathering is not a catalogue. It is a decision informed by the right conversation with the right counterpart.
The 16th Future Forces Exhibition & Forum takes place 21 – 23 October 2026 at PVA EXPO PRAGUE. Professional visitors may attend the exhibition and forum free of charge.
Exhibitor & general enquiries:
[email protected]
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- Czech cyber security agency reports record number of attacks in 2023
January 31, 2024
Czechia’s National Cyber and Security Information Agency says it registered a record number of cyber-attacks last year. The state organisation said on its website on Wednesday that it had recorded 262 such attacks in 2023, compared to 146 the previous year. The agency said the increase was mainly due to repeated waves of DDoS attacks led ...
- Europol and Eurojust support Czech and Ukrainian police in taking down multi-million euro voice phishing gang
November 16, 2023
The Czech and Ukrainian police have disrupted, with the support of Europol and Eurojust, a prolific phishing gang believed to have defrauded victims across Europe of tens of millions of euros. In Czechia alone, the damage caused by this criminal group is estimated at over EUR 8 million (CZK 195 000 000). As a result of ...
- Europol: Ragnar Locker ransomware gang taken down by international police swoop
October 20, 2023
This week, law enforcement and judicial authorities from eleven countries delivered a major blow to one of the most dangerous ransomware operations of recent years. This action, coordinated at international level by Europol and Eurojust, targeted the Ragnar Locker ransomware group. The group were responsible for numerous high-profile attacks against critical infrastructure across the world. In ...
- Czechia: University of Defence victim of cyber-attack
September 27, 2023
Czechia’s University of Defence was the victim of a cyber-attack, with hackers evidently stealing data from the institution’s rector, iRozhlas.cz reported on Wednesday. The news website said the Municipal State Prosecutor’s Office in Brno was looking into the matter. A spokesperson for the National Cyber and Information Security Agency said it would not comment on the ...
- North Korean hackers attack EU targets with Konni RAT malware
July 23, 2022
Threat analysts have uncovered a new campaign attributed to APT37, a North Korean group of hackers, targeting high-value organizations in the Czech Republic, Poland, and other European countries. In this campaign, the hackers use malware known as Konni, a remote access trojan (RAT) capable of establishing persistence and performing privilege escalation on the host. Konni has been ...
- Prague Airport says thwarted several cyber attacks; hospitals also targeted
April 18, 2020
Prague Airport and a regional Czech hospital said on Saturday they had thwarted cyber attacks on their IT networks, reinforcing warnings by the national cyber security watchdog of likely attempts to harm the country’s infrastructure. “Attempted attacks on web pages of the airport were detected in preparatory phases,” the airport’s spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. ...