The EDEN defence business cluster heads for SOFINS

A trade show dedicated to special forces and their industrial and research and development partners, SOFINS will be held from Tuesday 28 to Thursday 30 March at the camp of the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment (13e RDP), in the Gironde. The cluster of French defence, security and safety SMEs, EDEN, will take part for the sixth consecutive time, with 18 member companies exhibiting their product ranges for elite units from around the world.

EDEN (European Defense Economic Network) is an organisation founded in 2008 by six entrepreneurs from the Rhône-Alpes region who pooled their skills to improve their business in the very specific fields of defence, security and safety. With the support of the Lyon Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and the French Defence Procurement Agency (DGA), EDEN now assists more than a hundred dual-use SMEs with their economic development projects in France and abroad. The association thus acts as a catalyst, enabling its members to share their experience, develop business relationships and promote their strengths. They also benefit from the cluster’s visibility with its institutional partners, associations and other centres of expertise.

18 member companies will take part in this 2023 edition, which celebrates 10 years of SOFINS. Weapons, drones, advanced electronics, individual equipment, CBRN protection and decontamination systems... Many fields are represented.

Here is the list of participating companies:

• ASI Group: develops and integrates simple or complex systems on all types of fixed- or rotary-wing aircraft. Its subsidiary ASI Aviation designs the F406 (nearly 80 aircraft worldwide, many of them operated as mission, surveillance and maritime patrol aircraft).

• BRC: specialist in the design and manufacture of custom-made cases to protect equipment against the harshest conditions.

• Delair: since its creation in 2011, the company, which specialises in mini-drones, has mastered the entire value chain of its aircraft. The Delair Marine “business unit” enables the group to offer solutions for underwater ISR missions.

• Elistair: designs and manufactures tethered drone solutions, for observation, civil protection and tactical communication missions.

• GMTECH: has specialised in tactical gloves, fighter pilot gloves and special forces gloves since 1946. Its products are made in France, in Saint-Junien in the Limousin, the French capital of glove-making since the 11th century.

• Inpixal: develops embedded real-time video processing solutions for defence and security.

• Merio: designs payloads for all types of carrier (drones, aircraft, helicopters, land vehicles, boats), in particular high-performance gyro-stabilised turrets weighing under 10 kg.

• Metravib: develops systems that detect and precisely locate gunfire in real time from the sound waves it generates.

• Morin: has specialised for 47 years in manufacturing and distributing gear and equipment for canine units.

• Novadem: designs, produces and sells drones for civil and military markets, with full industrial control guaranteeing the highest level of Made in France quality.

• Ouvry: specialises in the design, engineering, production and maintenance of individual body and respiratory protection systems, and CBRN decontamination.

• PGM Precision: founded in 1991 and specialising in the design and manufacture of high-precision rifles, PGM is an official supplier to the French armed forces and to the elite units of nearly 55 countries.

• Sysnav: makes up for the shortcomings of GPS by offering infrastructure-free navigation and geolocation solutions for all conditions, including the most extreme.

• TECSUP: has been designing and producing products related to energy storage and management for nearly 40 years: lithium batteries, battery chargers, inverters/UPS and converters.

• Teleflow: designs, manufactures and sells tyre pressure adjustment systems, ensuring the mobility and therefore the safety of units deployed on any type of terrain.

• Titan Defense: world specialist in refuelling solutions for military and civil aircraft.

• Verney-Carron: a gunmaker for two centuries, Verney-Carron designs, manufactures and sells lethal and non-lethal weapons for the armed and security forces, through its Lebel brand.

• Wildsteer: specialises in tactical knives for special forces and the armed forces. The company is based in Saint-Étienne and carries out all its manufacturing in the Thiers and Saint-Étienne area.

You can subscribe to our magazine and receive our latest issue, whose feature is devoted to the Special Operations Command, access exclusive content and benefit from our partners’ offers on gear and equipment. Head to the Premium section.

This text comes from a press release that our editorial team found interesting. If you are a company in the defence and security sector, feel free to send us yours at this address: contact@defense-zone.com.