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Best of LinkedIn: World Defense Show 2026 · Best of LinkedIn: Digital Transformation & Tech

• 0:00
  Speaker 0: provided by Thomas Allguyer and Frenis, based on the most relevant post on LinkedIn about World Defense Show.
• 0:06
  Speaker 0: Frenis is a BDB market research company that equips product and strategy teams with market and competitive intelligence across the defense industry.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the deep dive.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: So today we're shifting gears.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: We are getting out of the abstract and dropping right into the middle of the action in Riyadh to cover the World Defense Show, twenty twenty six.
• 0:27
  Speaker 0: And, you know, when you think of a defense trade show, A very specific image comes to mind, rows of tanks, dark suits, maybe some brochures.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: Other brochures.
• 0:36
  Speaker 0: But looking at the data front as pulled, especially the chatter on LinkedIn, the vibe in Riyadh this year felt, well, it felt different.
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: It was distinct.
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  Speaker 1: It really wasn't a shopping mall for hardware.
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  Speaker 1: It was more like a massive high-stakes co-working space.
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  Speaker 1: The big theme wasn't procurement.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: No.
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  Speaker 1: It was co-production.
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: That's the
• 0:55
  Speaker 0: keyword.
• 0:55
  Speaker 0: We're going to circle back to that a lot.
• 0:57
  Speaker 0: We've sifted through.
• 0:58
  Speaker 0: just a mountain of posts from people actually on the ground.
• 1:01
  Speaker 0: Insiders, engineers, strategists, and we've boiled it all down into a few key clusters.
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  Speaker 0: We're going to talk about the Saudi Defense Hub, the focus on air power, what's real in robotics, the geopolitics on the floor, and then this idea of the invisible battlefield.
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  Speaker 1: It's a dense landscape, but a really fascinating one.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get into it.
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  Speaker 0: So let's start with that big context.
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  Speaker 0: The Saudi Defense Hub and Vision- We hear the word localization thrown around all the time in this industry.
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  Speaker 0: It's
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  Speaker 1: almost a buzzword.
• 1:28
  Speaker 0: It is.
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  Speaker 0: But a post from Mohamed Hassanain actually put some hard data behind it.
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  Speaker 1: Right.
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  Speaker 1: He visualized the whole trajectory of defense localization in the kingdom.
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  Speaker 1: And when you look at the graph he shared, it is not a gentle slope.
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  Speaker 1: It's a cliff face, but, you know, going up.
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  Speaker 0: He called it an industrial sprint, didn't he?
• 1:48
  Speaker 0: He
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  Speaker 1: did.
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  Speaker 1: And the numbers really backed that up.
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  Speaker 1: He pointed out that back in, was it, twenty sixteen, defense localization was at just about two percent.
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  Speaker 1: Two
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  Speaker 0: percent.
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  Speaker 0: So basically all the capital is just leaving the country immediately.
• 2:00
  Speaker 0: Immediately.
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  Speaker 1: By twenty twenty five, that number hit twenty five.
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  Speaker 1: percent.
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  Speaker 1: And the target for twenty thirty is
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  Speaker 0: fifty percent.
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  Speaker 1: Fifty percent.
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  Speaker 0: That is a massive restructuring of an entire national economy in just over a decade.
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  Speaker 1: It is.
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  Speaker 1: And Hassanin framed it as a move toward a circular economy.
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  Speaker 1: The logic is simple.
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  Speaker 1: Instead of sending billions out to buy hardware, you keep that capital inside to fund local production, build R&D, and create high-tech jobs.
• 2:28
  Speaker 0: So they're using defense as the engine to jumpstart the wider economy.
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: But here's the thing about localization.
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  Speaker 1: You can't just mandate it and expect it to happen.
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  Speaker 1: You need the nuts and bolts.
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  Speaker 1: You need the supply chain.
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  Speaker 0: You need the small guys.
• 2:41
  Speaker 0: Yeah.
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  Speaker 0: You can't build a complex jet if you don't have local companies making the wiring harnesses or the software components.
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  Speaker 1: And that is where Fahad Alanasi's update comes in.
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  Speaker 1: He highlighted the launch of something called Tajseer Plus.
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  Speaker 0: The new supplier platform.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: a platform designed specifically to empower SMEs, the small and medium enterprises.
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  Speaker 0: It's all about strengthening
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  Speaker 1: that industrial integration.
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  Speaker 1: It's democratizing
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  Speaker 0: the industry locally.
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  Speaker 1: It is, and you could really feel that shift in the posts from people in the private sector.
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  Speaker 1: Ahmed Eli Gaki from the Benjamin group, he had a really interesting take.
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: He said that local partnerships are no longer just a nice to have.
• 3:18
  Speaker 0: No, they're mandatory now.
• 3:19
  Speaker 0: That's the new reality.
• 3:20
  Speaker 0: If you're a foreign company, you can't just ship a crate anymore.
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  Speaker 0: You have to integrate.
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  Speaker 0: You have to transfer knowledge.
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  Speaker 1: Elagaki's whole point was about sustainable growth.
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  Speaker 1: You have to be part of the ecosystem, not just a vendor passing through.
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  Speaker 0: And there's a branding piece to this too, right?
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  Speaker 0: Romel Cabani touched on it.
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  Speaker 0: He noted that Saudi Arabia isn't just building capability.
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  Speaker 1: It's shaping a narrative.
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  Speaker 1: I really liked that observation.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: Me too.
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  Speaker 1: Kobani said, the confidence you see from these local organizations is it's a collision of strategy, brand, and just pure national ambition.
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  Speaker 1: They aren't just making parts.
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  Speaker 1: They're telling a story to the world, a story that says, we are makers, not just buyers.
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  Speaker 0: Speaking of telling stories, let's move to our second theme, air power.
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  Speaker 0: Because in the defense world, nothing screams narrative quite like a fighter jet.
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  Speaker 1: Air power is always the showstopper, always.
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  Speaker 0: And... There was one specific visual that just seemed to break the defense corner of LinkedIn, the F- Thirty-Five.
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  Speaker 0: But it wasn't just sitting there.
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  Speaker 1: No.
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  Speaker 1: It was a full-scale mock-up, and it had a Saudi flag right on it.
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  Speaker 0: Bilal Hussein posted about this, and he did not mince words.
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  Speaker 0: He called it not a subtle move.
• 4:30
  Speaker 0: Well,
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  Speaker 1: it's definitely not subtle.
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  Speaker 1: It's basically a billboard for geopolitical ambition.
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  Speaker 1: And Abdullah al-Malki also weighed in on this.
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  Speaker 1: He pointed out that the F- Thirty-Five symbolizes the future of air combat.
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  Speaker 0: Which isn't about dog fighting anymore.
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  Speaker 1: Not really.
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  Speaker 1: It's about being networked.
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  Speaker 1: It's software-centric.
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  Speaker 1: It's
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  Speaker 0: a flying data center that can also shoot.
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  Speaker 1: Pretty much.
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  Speaker 1: And Muhammad al-Ashkar added some concrete details, noting plans to purchase up to forty-eight of them.
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  Speaker 1: Plus, they had demo flyovers.
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  Speaker 1: It's a very public statement of intent from the Royal Saudi Air Force.
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  Speaker 0: But, and this is where you see the multipolar nature of the show.
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  Speaker 0: It wasn't just American hardware turning heads.
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  Speaker 0: The Turkish aerospace presence was massive.
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: Huge.
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  Speaker 1: Two SI's, Turkish Aerospace.
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  Speaker 1: They really brought their A-game.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Goksel Yildirim shared some incredible details about their display.
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  Speaker 1: They didn't just bring static models of the K-AN fighter.
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: They
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  Speaker 0: showed the autonomous wingman concept.
• 5:22
  Speaker 0: Yes.
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  Speaker 1: And this is a crucial concept for the future.
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  Speaker 1: You have the man K-AN fighter acting in sync with Anka III drones.
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  Speaker 1: The pilot is kind of like a quarterback for the drones.
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  Speaker 0: And the display wasn't just a poster on a wall, it was dynamic.
• 5:36
  Speaker 1: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: It was a glimpse into to real manned-unmanned teaming.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: And honestly, the way they sold it was just as interesting.
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: Ramazan Talayu posted about their marketing.
• 5:46
  Speaker 1: He noted they shifted from just listing specs.
• 5:48
  Speaker 0: This goes mock-to, this carries X pounds.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 5:51
  Speaker 1: They moved to what he called conceptual storytelling.
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  Speaker 1: They sell the problem first and let the visitor experience the solution.
• 5:58
  Speaker 1: It shows a real maturity in how they engage with customers.
• 6:00
  Speaker 0: And we can't talk air power without the home team.
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  Speaker 0: Syed Sadaquian-Heider noted the first public operational display of the Hawk- one sixty-five by the Saudi Hawks.
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  Speaker 1: A very proud moment for the kingdom for sure.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: It just reinforces that idea of operational readiness.
• 6:15
  Speaker 1: Okay,
• 6:15
  Speaker 0: let's get down from the clouds for a minute and talk about what's happening on the ground.
• 6:19
  Speaker 0: Theme three, unmanned and robotics.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: This is where the innovation cycle feels the fastest.
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  Speaker 1: The barrier to entry is lower, so you see all this rapid prototyping.
• 6:29
  Speaker 0: Alexander K. from Lockheed Martin UK showed off something that really caught my eye.
• 6:35
  Speaker 0: An uncrewed turret.
• 6:36
  Speaker 0: But the key phrase he used was platform agnostic.
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  Speaker 1: That modularity is the key trend.
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  Speaker 1: Platform agnostic means you can bolt that turret onto a tracked vehicle, a four by four or whatever.
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: It gives commanders so much more flexibility.
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: But
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  Speaker 0: the bigger trend... and Walid Meskin from the Unmanned Zone pointed this out, is that we're moving past just building better remote control cars.
• 6:59
  Speaker 0: He's the phrase systems of systems.
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  Speaker 1: That's the holy grail of modern defense tech.
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  Speaker 1: It's not about the individual drone.
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  Speaker 1: It's about perception, comms, and command, all working as one seamless network.
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  Speaker 0: So if a drone sees something, the artillery knows about it instantly.
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  Speaker 1: Without a human having to pick up a radio, that's the goal.
• 7:16
  Speaker 0: And of course, if everyone has drones, everyone needs a way to stop them.
• 7:19
  Speaker 0: Counter-UAS was a huge topic.
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  Speaker 0: It
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  Speaker 1: had to be.
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  Speaker 1: Martin Appell from Drone Shield made a great point.
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  Speaker 1: He said, CUAS isn't about a single sensor in a quiet field anymore.
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  Speaker 1: It's about systems that can operate in really congested airspace.
• 7:33
  Speaker 0: Because the sky is just getting crowded.
• 7:35
  Speaker 0: Friendly drones, commercial traffic, threats, all mixed up.
• 7:39
  Speaker 0: Exactly.
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  Speaker 1: And Verona Kumar Supermanium from TRD Singapore was there showcasing combat proven solutions.
• 7:46
  Speaker 1: that phrase combat proven was everywhere.
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  Speaker 1: People don't want experiments, they want what works.
• 7:52
  Speaker 0: Before we move on, I have to mention a slightly more sci-fi moment.
• 7:56
  Speaker 0: Gerovsch Fultonovy from the Slovak delegation shared something pretty wild.
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  Speaker 0: The
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: AI soldier.
• 8:02
  Speaker 0: The AI soldier.
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  Speaker 0: They had a hologram box with an AI soldier in a Slovak uniform.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: It sounds a bit like a movie prop.
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  Speaker 0: A little, but Gerovsch said it was a way to present complex tech in an engaging way.
• 8:11
  Speaker 0: I mean, at a trade show, capturing attention is half the battle.
• 8:14
  Speaker 0: True.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so moving to Theme Four.
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  Speaker 1: Land, naval, and geopolitics, we're seeing a lot of cross-border integration.
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: A
• 8:20
  Speaker 0: prime example of that co-production theme.
• 8:23
  Speaker 0: Haka Alkan and Suleyman Shen shared an update about Esselson, the Turkish giant.
• 8:28
  Speaker 0: They integrated their gunshot detection system onto a South Korean vehicle.
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: The Hanwa Taigon, eight by eight.
• 8:34
  Speaker 1: So you have Turkish sensors on a Korean truck being showcased in Saudi Arabia.
• 8:38
  Speaker 0: That is the modern defense industry in a nutshell.
• 8:41
  Speaker 0: It's modular.
• 8:42
  Speaker 0: global and it's about fitting the best tech to the best platform.
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: Speaking of capability, Ali K. Chishti from Pakistan dropped a bombshell about the Samash missile.
• 8:51
  Speaker 1: The
• 8:51
  Speaker 0: hypersonic developments.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: GITS Pakistan unveiled this missile and he said it travels at Mach eight point.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: so plus.
• 8:58
  Speaker 0: Mach eight.
• 8:59
  Speaker 0: That is incredibly fast.
• 9:00
  Speaker 0: It's
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  Speaker 1: blistering.
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: And Chishti called it a game changer for regional A to A D anti-accessory denial.
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: with a missile that fast you can deny an enemy Navy access to a huge patch of ocean.
• 9:11
  Speaker 0: Which brings us to the naval side.
• 9:13
  Speaker 0: Romel Kobani had another great observation, this time about Coast Guard boats from Zid Marine.
• 9:18
  Speaker 0: He noted the serious craftsmanship, but with a touch of fun.
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: Fun is not a word you hear often in defense analysis.
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 9:25
  Speaker 0: But I think he was talking about the design aesthetic, the pride in the build.
• 9:28
  Speaker 0: It shows a confidence in the sector.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: No, I want to get your take on the geopolitical angle here.
• 9:32
  Speaker 1: Jack Mijuli had some really deep insights on who the kingdom's friends are on the show floor.
• 9:37
  Speaker 0: Mijuli's observations were very telling.
• 9:39
  Speaker 0: He noted the high visibility of Chinese defense tech.
• 9:43
  Speaker 0: He specifically saw a localized version of the JF-Seventeen Thunder.
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: And he quoted a Saudi friend who told him, we like to have many friends.
• 9:53
  Speaker 0: That is the crucial line.
• 9:55
  Speaker 0: Midsley's analysis is that the kingdom is driving for autonomy.
• 9:58
  Speaker 0: They're not putting all their eggs in one basket.
• 10:01
  Speaker 0: He explicitly said the US can no longer take Saudi business for granted.
• 10:05
  Speaker 0: So
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: if the US won't supply something or won't localize it, someone else will.
• 10:09
  Speaker 0: Exactly.
• 10:10
  Speaker 0: But it's not just China.
• 10:11
  Speaker 0: Samina Coret highlighted the huge French presence.
• 10:14
  Speaker 0: The
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: largest French pavilion ever deployed.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: So you've got the
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: U.S.,
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: China, Turkey, France, Korea, all vying for position in this new ecosystem.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: It's a geopolitical dance happening in real time.
• 10:26
  Speaker 0: It really is.
• 10:27
  Speaker 0: Okay, let's pivot to our final theme.
• 10:29
  Speaker 0: We've talked about all the hardware you can touch.
• 10:31
  Speaker 0: The theme five is about the invisible battlefield.
• 10:34
  Speaker 1: This is where the war is actually won or lost today.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: It's the digital backbone.
• 10:39
  Speaker 0: Nasser Umar Damora put it, Very bluntly, he asked, who controls the data?
• 10:44
  Speaker 0: Who trains the models?
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: It's a profound shift.
• 10:46
  Speaker 1: He argued that AI and cybersecurity aren't support functions anymore.
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: They are frontline capabilities.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: I mean, think about it.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: If your enemy poisons your AI model, your Mock-Ate missile is useless.
• 10:58
  Speaker 0: So the data is the weapon?
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: Precisely.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: And space is a huge part of this.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Gianluca Seroni from ArgoTech was there.
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: showing adaptable, small satellite platforms.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: And
• 11:08
  Speaker 0: Abdullah Al-Nazi from NeoSpace Group highlighted how space tech is just fundamentally shaping modern operations.
• 11:14
  Speaker 1: You need those eyes in the sky.
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: And
• 11:16
  Speaker 0: you need connectivity.
• 11:17
  Speaker 0: Ahmed Lasla mentioned a big no-you between SDC and Ericsson.
• 11:20
  Speaker 0: Right.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Five G for defense.
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: Mission-critical, secure communications.
• 11:25
  Speaker 0: Why is five G so important here?
• 11:27
  Speaker 0: It's not just about faster downloads, right?
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: No, it's about latency and density.
• 11:31
  Speaker 1: It's the military's nervous system.
• 11:33
  Speaker 1: If you look at all the themes we've discussed, the F- Thirty-Five, the drone systems, the integrated vehicles, they all rely on massive amounts of data being transferred instantly and securely.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: That deal is the plumbing that makes everything else work.
• 11:47
  Speaker 0: So when we step back and look at all these different posts, what's the big picture?
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: I think we're seeing a maturation.
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: The World Defense Show implies Saudi Arabia is transitioning from a passive buyer to a very active global industrial hub.
• 12:02
  Speaker 0: And they're doing it with a huge focus on Maiden Saudi weaving AI into everything and maintaining this really diverse portfolio of geopolitical partnerships.
• 12:12
  Speaker 0: Exactly.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: They're building a resilient ecosystem that doesn't rely on any single outside power.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: That for me is the big takeaway.
• 12:19
  Speaker 0: It's been a fascinating look into where defense is headed.
• 12:21
  Speaker 0: If you enjoyed this episode, new episodes drop every two weeks.
• 12:24
  Speaker 0: Also check out our other editions on ICT and tech insights, health tech, cloud, digital products and services, artificial intelligence, defense tech and sustainability in green ICT.
• 12:34
  Speaker 1: Thanks for listening and keep questioning what you see.
• 12:36
  Speaker 0: See you next time.