• The UK Government has confirmed its largest-ever presence at the Farnborough International Airshow 2026, reinforcing the event’s role as a key platform for defence diplomacy, international partnerships, and global engagement.
• The returning UK Government Hub will unite multiple departments and agencies to showcase national capability across aerospace, defence and space, while facilitating strategic dialogue, trade promotion, and industry collaboration.
• Expanded participation, including financial institutions and the UK Space Agency, signals a coordinated push to support innovation, investment and export growth, underlining the UK’s positioning as a leading global defence and aerospace partner.
The UK Government has confirmed its largest commitment to the Farnborough International Airshow to date.
The engagement reaffirms the event’s role as a central platform for the UK Government to further strengthen its international relationships with allies and partners to support defence and wider foreign policy. The announcement follows the Defence Diplomacy Strategy naming the airshow as one of the key cultural events in leveraging the UK’s culture, history and excellence to make defence diplomacy a ‘whole-of-society effort’.
After its successful 2024 launch, the UK Government Hub will again bring together departments and agencies to highlight UK expertise, policy leadership, investment, and support for aerospace, defence, and space organisations.
The 2026 Hub will bring together officials across the UK Government, from:
• The National Armaments Director Group, part of the UK Ministry of Defence
• Department for Business and Trade (DBT)
• Export Control Joint Unit (ECJU)
• Enterprise Space Category
• Department for Transport
• Government Commercial Agency (GCA)
• Met Office
• UK Export Finance (UKEF)
• National Wealth Fund
The UK Government Hub continues to serve as a focal point for strategic dialogue, partnership building, and the promotion of UK innovation and trade on a global stage. Its return in 2026 reflects the continued commitment to supporting industry growth, advancing future technologies, and strengthening the UK’s position as a leader in defence, aerospace and space.
The National Armaments Director Group, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, develops, delivers and sustains the UK’s national arsenal and defence infrastructure. Its mission is to maximise the ability of UK war-fighters to deter, operate, fight and win. Discussing the group’s presence, including commercial, international, export, digital, procurement and support specialists, Rupert Pearce, the UK’s National Armaments Director (NAD) and a member of the Defence Board, said: “In today’s environment, the UK can only deliver the pace, resilience and efficiency we need by building stronger partnerships between government, industry and our allies.
“This underscores the significant strategic contribution the Farnborough International Airshow makes, as a platform that brings together the UK defence base, towards ensuring the nation remains secure and resilient at home and abroad. Our dedicated presence in the UK Government Hub is an important opportunity for the National Armaments Director Group. Our teams will be convening the investors, innovators and manufacturers of all sizes who underpin our national arsenal, and sharing how our new operating model will help us deliver the capabilities our military partners need, when and where they need them.
“The Hub also gives us a space to welcome the national and international delegations and organisations who shape our collaborative capability programmes and can be our key partners in investment and export opportunities.
“I look forward to meeting many of our current and future defence enterprise partners at the Farnborough International Airshow, and to reinforcing the UK’s role as a trusted, leading defence partner on the global stage.”
Following the launch of the inaugural Aerospace Global Forum: Finance Summit, British Business Bank and the National Wealth Fund have confirmed their role as ‘Supporting Partners’ of the summit, offering businesses a vital opportunity to explore available financing options and access the long-term support that can help them to scale and thrive in the evolving global market.
In addition, the UK Space Agency (part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) will be present in the Space Zone, located within Hall 4.
With the largest-ever international industry and UK government presence, the 2026 edition underscores the demand from the world’s most influential organisations to do business at one of the most trusted airshows in the world, and Farnborough’s unmatched ability to convene the global industry.
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