Josselin Droff, Eva Szego, Julien Malizard and Lucie Béraud-Sudreau publish the article «Between legacy and emergence: the spatial integration of New Defence companies in Europe's historical defence landscape» via ARES Group, IRIS (April 2026)
In this article, Josselin Droff, Eva Szego and Julien Malizard, researchers at the Chaire Économie de défense - IHEDN, and Lucie Béraud-Sudreau, researcher at the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS), study the establishment of new defence companies in six European countries: France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
In particular, the authors sought to determine whether new entrants to defence markets were appearing in the same local ecosystems or in ecosystems different from those in which incumbent defence companies were already established.
The results show that, as a result of the reduction in barriers to entry for certain new defence technology products, the emergence of new defence companies broadens the industrial base beyond traditional manufacturers and ensures a better geographical distribution of these companies within the Member States.
Nevertheless, in some markets, the effects of path dependency and historical lock-in remain significant.
The maps were produced by Luka Aleksic, research assistant at the Chair.
«Created in 2016 by the Institute for International and Strategic Relations (IRIS), Ares Group aims to create a network of European researchers specialising in defence industry issues in order to draw up proposals in connection with the development of a European defence industrial and technological base and to carry out studies on behalf of armaments players, defence ministries, European institutions and companies. The aim is to raise awareness among the general public and decision-makers of the specific features of the armaments sector and the strategic nature of this industry.
The network is made up of recognised researchers on defence and armaments industrial policy issues, whether they work in universities or think tanks. Ares Group can also call on experts from the world of industry.
ARES Group produces short articles (Comments) and longer articles (Policy Papers) in English, which are widely distributed in the European strategic community. Its experts also publish opinion articles in newspapers. Conferences and seminars are held regularly in Brussels and Paris and are based on material produced by the group.»
Source : https://www.iris-france.org/ares/
