With the defence landscape shifting fast and innovation coming from all corners, DSEI UK 2025 arrives at a moment of real change. In this article, DSEI Director Grant Burgham explains how the show is adapting, not just growing in scale, but opening the doors to new technologies, new companies, and new ways of thinking.
From dual-use tech to SME involvement, he lays out how DSEI is helping the defence community make sense of where things stand and where they’re headed.
Every edition of DSEI UK offers a reflection of the global defence and security landscape at a particular moment in time. As that landscape becomes more fluid and contested, the role of DSEI UK has evolved.
It has become a strategic forum where the defence and security community comes together to understand change, anticipate future needs and foster meaningful collaboration. With around 50,000 visitors expected this September, the scale of participation affirms its continued relevance.
What sets DSEI UK apart is not just who attends, but how ideas and innovation are embedded across the event. Technology is no longer confined to a single location or exhibition area. While the dedicated Technology Zone continues to expand, this year featuring over 100 suppliers, technological advancement is now visible across the entire show floor. Whether in land systems, maritime platforms, air capabilities or the digital and electromagnetic space, innovation is the common thread running through every domain.
This reflects a broader truth about today’s defence environment. The lines between traditional and emerging sectors are increasingly blurred. Many significant developments are being driven by technologies not originally designed for defence. The presence of these dual-use innovations throughout DSEI UK shows how the defence ecosystem is opening up to new ideas and contributors.
Prime contractors remain central to this ecosystem. This year, DSEI UK will host 18 of the top 20 Western defence companies. Their presence reflects the value they place on engaging with a broad cross-section of the sector. Equally important, however, is the growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises participating across the show. These companies bring agility, fresh thinking and deep scientific expertise, often working at the edge of research and development.
For SMEs, DSEI UK is not only a place to exhibit. It is a platform for access and influence. It supports the Ministry of Defence’s wider ambition to bring more dynamic businesses into the supply chain. Through DSEI UK, many of these companies are able to enter defence for the first time, or to grow their presence in a way that might not otherwise be possible.
Meeting customers in person, hearing operational needs first hand and engaging with global partners in a focused environment is a rare opportunity. DSEI UK brings these elements together in one place. From autonomous systems to software-driven platforms, from resilient infrastructure to advanced data integration, the exhibition floor reflects a sector in transition.
The event is both a mirror of where defence stands today and a catalyst for where it is going next. For organisations of every size, particularly those looking to enter or grow within the defence and security space, it offers not just visibility, but relevance, insight, and the opportunity to help shape the future.
The Tech Zone
One of the fastest-growing areas of DSEI UK is the Technology Zone. It will be a dynamic space bringing together defence, security and commercial innovators. This year, the zone has been significantly expanded to meet growing demand from companies not traditionally associated with the defence sector.
Subject areas include artificial intelligence, cyber resilience, quantum technologies, low-Earth orbit communications, advanced manufacturing and energy innovation. These are capabilities that modern armed forces are actively seeking to adopt and integrate. The Tech Zone will highlight companies working at the forefront of these domains, many of which are SMEs or recent entrants into the defence space.
DSEI UK is an opportunity to break down silos and encourage genuine collaboration between sectors, allowing defence to benefit from the ingenuity and pace of the tech world. The event provides a clear path for innovators to engage with government, military and industry leaders.
Championing Non-Traditional Voices
DSEI UK provides access to the full defence ecosystem, something that is not always available year-round. Complex procurement processes, long timelines and specific security requirements have historically acted as barriers. At DSEI UK 2025, we are taking steps, in collaboration with government, to reduce those barriers and support non-traditional players in finding their place and voice.
We have worked closely with ADS to provide a large UK pavilion, which will host dozens of SMEs. DSEI UK is proud to showcase start-ups and early-stage companies developing promising solutions. Many of these are university spin-outs or firms with backgrounds in consumer tech, automotive or energy. What they share is the potential to deliver meaningful impact to defence.
In 2025, we are also introducing new avenues for international collaboration. With delegations expected from more than 90 countries, DSEI UK provides opportunities for UK-based innovators to explore export routes and for international SMEs to find partners in Britain. Our collaboration with UK Defence and Security Exports (UKDSE) will help support this ambition. More than 40 countries will be represented through our international pavilion programme.
Looking Forward
DSEI UK has always served as a global stage for defence capability. Whether you are developing AI tools, launching a quantum start-up or offering a novel approach to logistics, the event offers something few others can: access to the full spectrum of the defence community, from tactical users to strategic decision-makers, from uniformed leadership to venture investors.
As Director, I am proud that DSEI is not only growing in scale but evolving in substance. Our mission is to reflect the priorities of the defence and security community and help shape its future.
The conversation begins in London this September.
It’s amazing how Israel has used their US donations to build a massive arms industry and has used that to effectively stop a number of countries including the UK from putting sanctions on them. Similar tactics that Putin used with russian ownership of half of London, which meant Russia was given time to move money out before the sanctions were dropped. Clever tactics.
Ona different not, looking at the picture and all the companies are massive state backed companies, hardly SME.