900 exhibitors, 25,000 visitors and the Defence Minister as an advocate: the DSEI arms fair is coming to Germany from 2027. For antimilitarists, this offers new opportunities – also in opposition to Germany as a supporter of Israel’s multi-front war.

Germany ranks among the world’s leading arms exporters and last year displaced China from fourth place. According to the latest figures from the federal government, 4,095 licences worth €13 billion were granted last year, almost half of them to states outside the EU and NATO. Only twelve applications for exports worth €704,000 were rejected. Military spending by the Federal Republic is also set to almost double to €150 billion by 2029.

Germany’s growing military ambitions are now being given a major showcase: from 9 to 12 March 2027, DSEI Germany will be held for the first time at the Hannover exhibition grounds, a spin-off of the Defence & Security Equipment International held every two years in London. It is organised by Deutsche Messe AG and the British company Clarion Events, which has run the London DSEI since its privatisation in 1999.

The fair will present equipment and technologies for aerospace, naval forces, land forces as well as cyber and information systems. A dedicated area, “Industrial Solutions”, is aimed at the automotive sector, which is increasingly being converted for military production. According to the organisers, half of the approximately 100,000 square metres of exhibition space has already been booked or reserved, including by German corporations Rheinmetall, Hensoldt and Diehl Defence.

The organisers expect 900 companies and 25,000 visitors at DSEI Germany. With more than 2,000 exhibitors and 76,000 visitors, the French Eurosatory 2024 has so far been the largest event of this kind. Milipol Paris in 2025 was roughly half that size, while Germany’s Enforce Tac ranks third – though both focus significantly on new police technologies.

“The strong demand for the new arms fair in Hannover shows how far the normalisation of rearmament has already progressed”, says Janine Wissler, deputy chair of the parliamentary group of the Left Party in the Bundestag. At the same time, it is claimed that every euro must be scrutinised when it comes to schools, hospitals and social infrastructure.

For promotional purposes, DSEI Germany secured Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Social Democratic Party) as early as two years ago; he is quoted on the fair’s website with appeals to the “Zeitenwende”: Germany is now gaining a platform “to demonstrate its defence-industrial capabilities, technological leadership and innovative strength on the international stage”.

A similar view is expressed by DSEI Germany managing director and former Bundeswehr officer Bernd Kögel: the fair is taking place at a time “when Europe is assuming greater responsibility for its own defence”. The official theme reflects this, focusing on “Germany’s role as a stabilising force within the EU and NATO”. Arms companies will discuss these issues on panels together with politicians and senior military representatives.

Criticism also comes from Mark Akkerman of the Dutch campaign Stop Wapenhandel: “The new DSEI Germany arms fair, supported by the Federal Ministry of Defence, is another worrying show of how the military-industrial complex fuels the spiral of militarisation and war preparation. While war rages around the globe and millions of people suffer, in Hannover money-hungry arms companies will promote their newest tools for murder and destruction. Instead of facilitating the profiteers of war and repression the German government should put its money and efforts towards conflict prevention, diplomacy, disarmament and social, environmental and international justice”, the researcher told “nd”.

The DSEI Germany aims to become “one of the most significant events in the global defence industry’s trade fair calendar”. This challenge should be taken up by the domestic anti-war movement. It can therefore build on London, where DSEI is consistently accompanied by protests, for example by the Campaign Against Arms Trade as well as pro-Palestinian groups. Last year, the British government excluded Israel from the fair with reference to the Gaza war. The country subsequently withdrew its pavilion; however, Israeli arms companies were still permitted to remain.

That the German government will likewise exclude Israel from DSEI is not to be expected, given Germany’s support for the multi-front war in violation of international law. This is another gap into which the anti-war movement could step: the fair in Hannover would provide an opportunity to identify Israeli arms companies as agents of death for many tens of thousands of civilians and, in doing so, hopefully deal them a significant blow.

Published in German in „nd“.

Image: Activists protest against the DSEI arms fair years ago in London (Leehee Rothschild).