Arms fairs

DSEI is one of the world's largest arms fairs. It takes place in London every two years, returning in September 2023. It includes most of the biggest arms companies, displaying weapons from sniper rifles and tanks, to combat aircraft and warships.

Farnborough International is best known for its airshow but its main purpose is the combined arms fair and civil aerospace exhibition. Weapons are marketed to international delegations from around the world.

Security & Policing is where arms, border, policing and surveillance companies gather to exhibit equipment and technologies. It is a secretive, annual Home Office event that does not even allow journalists to attend. Security and Policing 2023 will be Farnborough, Hampshire from 14-16 March 2023.

The Undersea Defence Technology (UDT) arms fair took place at SEC Glasgow at the end of June. It was met by a large, boisterous protest, which made it very clear that weapons trading should not be happening in Glasgow, or anywhere! As a result, Glasgow Council took the decision to no longer support arms fairs.

The DPRTE arms fair was moved to Birmingham after energetic protest and objections from locals drove it out of Cardiff ... now the threat of protest in Birmingham has forced the event to move before it even opens!

Monica Pearce of the Bath Stop War Coalition tells how Bath's famous Assembly Rooms were booked for a conference on military drones, organised by Clarion Events, and how sustained protest forced them to back down.

Activists in Seoul have drawn on some of the actions we had organised at DSEI - and improved them! South Korean activists even used some of the same slogans so that if any arms dealers who had been at DSEI also went to Seoul, they would know that “we are everywhere”.

Activists in Paris kicked off a week of action against the Eurosatory arms fair by covering an armoured vehicle in paint. People from Belgium, Germany and England have joined French activists to take action.

In November 2016, activists in Aoteara/New Zealand were on the streets to target a weapons expo in Auckland, and arms dealers found themselves locked out of the venue by the blockades. Here they explain the tactics that they have used to confront the arms trade.

In the UK, South Korea and New Zealand, activists have been taking action against the global arms trade. After the marathon of activism against the DSEI arms fair in September, we were off to Seoul, South Korea: to take action against the ADEX arms fair.

CAAT joined NESEHNUTÍ as part of their campaign to raise awareness of the Czech arms trade, participating in Different Fest, their anti-arms trade festival, challenging Brno's IDET arms fair.

The lines between policing, the army and ‘security’ are becoming blurred and 'counter-terrorism' is being used to clampdown on civil liberties. In the US, a coalition has been taking action against the militarisation of police and institutionalised racism by targeting a major arms fair: Urban Shield.