SOFINS · 2027

Agoris analysis · updated September 2026

Key takeaways

• SOFINS, short for Special Operations Forces Innovation Network Seminar, is the trade show for special forces: an event where the defence industry presents its equipment and has it tested by operators from French and foreign special forces and units.
• Next edition: the 8th, from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 April 2027, at Parc des Expositions de Bordeaux. This marks a change of venue: the first seven editions were held at the Camp de Souge military base, in the Gironde department.
• Organiser: the Cercle de l'Arbalète, a French non-profit association (under the 1901 law) that brings together companies supplying the French special forces, the intervention units of the Ministry of the Interior and the intelligence services. The Cercle entrusts the trade show's commercial operation to CDA, a separate company based at the same address in Versailles. The Ministry of the Armed Forces describes the trade show as organised for the benefit of the Special Operations Command (COS).
• Biennial frequency, held in odd-numbered years: the Cercle's statutes set a default periodicity of every two years.
• Access is strictly limited to trade visitors, who must prove the professional nature of their visit. Entry is forbidden to under-18s, and only the organiser can approve badges. Visitor registration opens in November 2026.
• Results of the 2025 edition, held 1 to 3 April at Camp de Souge: 322 exhibitors, 3,500 visitors and 57 foreign special forces delegations, according to the organiser.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

Exhibitors are micro-businesses, SMEs and large industrial groups offering solutions suited to the needs of special operations. Presenting the 2025 edition, Mer et Marine referred to hundreds of pieces of equipment, vehicles, weapons and drones for every environment. The organiser sells entry into a niche market, with a human-scale setting and a strong focus on demonstration.

Exhibitor access is selective. A company taking part for the first time submits an application reviewed by a selection committee, and the organiser warns that the number of places is very limited. Stand sizes range from 6 to 36 m², within a covered area of 10,000 m² spread across the whole exhibition park; it is possible to exhibit directly or indirectly, hosted on a group's stand.

Notable exhibitors

The official website does not publish an openly accessible named list: the lists of exhibitors who are Cercle members, of the 2023 and 2025 exhibitors, and of the SOFLAB exhibitors are restricted to the exhibitor area, which requires a login.

For the 2025 edition, the Cercle de l'Arbalète publicised the presence of Scania, MC2 Technologies and TR Équipement. Two young companies were rewarded there as part of SOFLAB: Tyndall FX for Terramind FX, a real-time 3D mapping tool built from drone imagery, and Owley, which designs a tactical network and a GPS-free geolocation solution. Ahead of that edition, Mer et Marine announced Naval Group's first participation, the static display of Airbus Helicopters' new NH90 FS helicopter, and a laser-versus-drone demonstration by CILAS.

Visitor quality

This is the trade show's main selling point. The organiser states that 45% of visitors come from special forces or units, with more than 40 official foreign delegations. Registration runs through a single platform, with two tracks: trade visitors on one side, French state services on the other, this second track being valid only with a state services email address. The services named are the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Justice and Customs.

The filtering of civilian visitors is openly acknowledged. Ahead of the 2025 edition, the president of the Cercle de l'Arbalète told Mer et Marine: "For all civilian visitors, the filter is strict and we stand by it." No third-party attendance audit is published: the only figures available are the organiser's own.

Programme & community

Conference programme

The 2027 programme has not been published. In 2025, the announced conferences covered the evolution of special operations and technologies aimed at the forces: a COS talk on the place of special operations in high-intensity conflicts, artificial intelligence, cyber, drones and autonomous threats in contested airspace, operations in extreme environments, and a session by the Fusiliers-marins et commandos force on penetrating a contested space from the sea. The Ministry of the Armed Forces highlights, from this 7th edition, the focus on delivery times for the innovations presented and on connecting equipment manufacturers with their potential buyers.

Demonstrations and SOFLAB

Demonstration is the trade show's DNA. At Camp de Souge, tests took place in test villages and on firing ranges. In Bordeaux, the organiser has announced several test zones on the exhibition park for 2027: watercraft activities on the lake, a driving zone, and a drone-flying zone.

SOFLAB is the space reserved for emerging companies selected by the Cercle de l'Arbalète. These young companies present their products to special forces during short pitches, over the course of a whole morning; technology SMEs that are Cercle members attend the pitches before talking in the afternoon with the companies they have spotted. The fourth edition of SOFLAB was held during SOFINS 2025, and two prizes were awarded there.

Community & networks

SOFINS is the flagship event of the Cercle de l'Arbalète, which also organises research and development workshops, visits to special forces units, and HVI, Hub and vision for intelligence, an event for the benefit of the French intelligence services. Cercle members attend the trade show's opening dinner. Under its statutes, honorary membership of the association is granted to the general officer commanding special operations.

The partners for the 2027 edition are not yet listed on the official website.

For a defence manufacturer, SOFINS does not replace the large general defence trade shows such as Eurosatory or, on the domestic security side, Milipol Paris. It is their targeted complement: fewer exhibitors, a heavily filtered audience, and the chance to have equipment tested by those who will actually use it.

On site: what you need to know

For its 8th edition, the trade show is leaving Camp de Souge for the Parc des Expositions de Bordeaux. The neighbouring lake serves as the site for the announced watercraft demonstrations.

From Bordeaux-Saint-Jean station, Tram C runs to the Parc des Expositions terminus in around 35 minutes. From Bordeaux-Mérignac airport, take Tram F to Porte de Bourgogne, then Tram C to the terminus, around 1h16 in total. By car from Paris, the A10 leads to Bordeaux, then follow signs for the exhibition park. Several hotels are nearby, including the Pullman, the Novotel and the Mercure.

On all three days, from Tuesday 6 to Thursday 8 April 2027, car parks open at 8:00am, accreditation at 8:30am and visitor entry at 9:00am. As the trade show is open to broadcast media, visitors and exhibitors may be filmed or photographed. Visitor contact: sav.visiteurs@sofins.fr.

How much it costs to exhibit

Preparing your visit

For the exhibitor

• Apply early: for a first participation, the application goes before a selection committee and places are very limited.
• Build the demonstration before the stand: watercraft zone, driving or drone flying, each trial is prepared like a sales exercise.
• Anticipate the new venue: the bearings taken at Camp de Souge no longer apply in Bordeaux, where the test zones change in nature.
• Prepare the list of foreign delegations to meet: for 2025, the organiser announced that exhibitors would state their preferences beforehand, with each delegation then building its own programme.
• Check with IT that the organiser's emails are received correctly, as they are sent from several domains listed on the Exhibitors page.

For the decision-making visitor

• Register as soon as registration opens, in November 2026, and prepare proof of professional status: without it, no badge.
• Public officials should use the state services track, with a professional government email address.
• Come for the trials: this is the only place to compare, on the same day, equipment in operation in front of operators.
• Prepare meetings in advance: the trade show is sized for a limited number of visitors, and exhibitors come for targeted discussions.

CSR policy & initiatives

Neither the trade show's website nor the Cercle de l'Arbalète publishes a formalised CSR policy, a carbon footprint report or ISO 20121 certification for SOFINS: no Commitments or Sustainability section appears on either the event's or the association's website.

The new venue, however, offers a documented framework. Beam, the operator of the Parc des Expositions de Bordeaux, is ISO 20121 certified and highlights an array of 60,000 solar panels and the use of 100% green electricity. The venue is also served by the tram, which makes access by public transport easier.

On the social side, Mer et Marine reported that a raffle was once again held at SOFINS 2025, in aid of associations that support wounded service members and the families of service members killed in action.

How the trade show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The number of exhibitors has risen markedly: 236 in 2017, 262 in 2019, 253 in 2021, then a plateau above 320 in 2023 and 2025. The number of foreign special forces delegations follows the same trend, from 43 in 2019 to 57 in 2023 and 2025.

Attendance, on the other hand, has plateaued: 3,500 visitors reported for each of the last three editions, against 4,000 in 2017. Nothing suggests waning interest. Ahead of the 2025 edition, the organiser explained to Mer et Marine that it was deliberately containing the growth in civilian attendance to preserve the confidentiality of discussions. The apparent ceiling therefore more plausibly reflects a controlled capacity than a loss of momentum, even though no source states it in these terms.

The 2027 move is the major break in the trade show's history. In leaving a military base for an urban exhibition park served by the tram, SOFINS gains in accessibility, with the tram and nearby hotels, and changes the nature of its demonstrations: the lake opens the way to watercraft trials, where Souge offered firing ranges and open ground. For an exhibitor, this is the edition where the habits built up since 2013 need to be rebuilt.

The dates for the 2029 edition had not been announced at the time of writing.

All data that does not mention a source comes from the organiser's website.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (sofins.fr).