France’s Eurosatory has been cancelled, along with most other defence events and military exercises, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Berenice Baker finds out how organisers, exhibitors and attendees are mitigating the impact of event cancellations.
The Covid-19 outbreak had already established a deadly foothold in France before the World Health Organisation declared it a pandemic on 11 March. When on 17 March Prime Minister Édouard Philippe banned public gatherings of 100 people or more, the writing was on the wall for Eurosatory.
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Cancellations of the 2020 Farnborough Air Show and the Royal International Air Tattoo in the UK were announced on 20 March, despite there still being some speculation that it would all blow over by summer. Due to open its doors to defence industry experts from 8 to 12 June, Eurosatory was the last to blink, finally confirming cancellation on 28 March.
