10 most interesting events of October in defence tech

September 2025 was a peak month in terms of important events dedicated to Ukrainian defence technologies. The culmination was the Brave1 Defence Tech Valley investment summit, which brought a lot of interesting news (1, 2, 3) and insights. At the end of the month, the picture was completed by the Lviv IT Arena, which featured many product updates (1, 2, 3 – more to come).

However, there will be plenty of interesting events in the defence and technology sector in October, both in Ukraine and abroad. For its traditional monthly digest, the Defender Media editorial team has selected ten events that deserve special attention in the coming weeks. A complete list of events is available in the events calendar, which is compiled in collaboration with Techosystem Defence.

A series of hackathons from the European Defence Tech Hub

Where and when:

• Milan, Italy, October 3-5
• Hamburg, Germany, October 10-12
• Munich, Germany, October 24-26

Europe’s leading defence technology hackathon will visit three cities in October – two in Germany and one in Italy.

‘Land of Engineers’: Dnipro, Poltava

Where and when: Dnipri (October 11), Poltava (October 25)

A Ukrainian series of events for enthusiastic engineers, technical students, scientists, manufacturers, start-ups, and developers with ideas in the field of defence tech. In October, events will take place in Dnipro and Poltava.

AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition

Where: Washington, D.C., United States
When: October 13-15

The annual three-day conference of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) is the largest land forces exhibition in North America. During AUSA, a side event, the Ukraine Informational Session, will be held, organised by the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council in partnership with the U.S. Commercial Service and Kallman Worldwide Inc.

Brave1 Invest Demo Day Munich

Where: Munich, Germany
When: October 20

Brave1 invites you to discover cutting-edge technologies in the defence and dual-use sectors at Brave1 Invest Demo Day in Munich. This is an excellent opportunity for international partners to see how groundbreaking Ukrainian start-ups and scale-ups present their innovations and to talk to them directly.

RESTART

Where: Kyiv, Ukraine
When: October 24-25

Organisers: AIN.UA, Molfar, Techosystem, DEV Challenge, and idealer$ are organising a new conference called RECTAPT. The main focus is on young businesses, technology, and start-up culture. The scale promises to be large, with over 3,000 entrepreneurs, leaders, and creators expected to attend the event.

Among others, many speakers from the defence tech community are expected to attend the event, including Denys Gurak, Maria Berlinska, Kateryna Bezsudna, Misha Rudominsky, Victoria Yaremchuk, and others.

European Defence Week

Where: Paris, France
When: October 27-31

European Defence Week is five days that will bring together the European defence innovation ecosystem.

Three reasons to attend the event:

• Exclusive information on European sovereignty, dual-use technologies, and strategic financing.
• Cross-sector dialogue between start-ups, corporations, governments, the military, and investors.
• Curated networking events and one-on-one meetings that open up real opportunities.

Seoul ADEX 2025

Where: Seoul, South Korea
When: October 29 – November 2

A leading global event for the defence and aerospace industries. Held only once every two years, this exhibition will serve as a comprehensive platform for demonstrating cutting-edge technologies in the air, land, sea and space sectors from around the world.

Do you know about an interesting event that is not yet on our calendar? Write to team@thedefender.media.