Ten trends, one conviction: in a ‘war of saturation’, superiority is no longer won without speed of processing, data and intelligent mass.
Ten trends, one conviction: in a ‘war of saturation’, superiority is no longer won by the costliest weaponry alone, but by speed of processing, data and intelligent mass.
Paris, 10 June 2026 – A few days before Eurosatory 2026 opens, and against an accelerating geopolitical backdrop, Sopra Steria, a major Tech player in Europe, is publishing its ‘Defence, Security & Space’ trend book, decoding the shifts that are reshaping European defence.
Its central thread: in a ‘war of saturation’, superiority is no longer measured by the power of platforms and software, but by the ability to decide and act faster than the adversary. For Europe’s armed forces, agencies and industry, strategic autonomy is no longer a distant horizon: it has become an immediate operational imperative.
Why now: strategic value has shifted
In Ukraine as in the Levant, drones costing a few thousand euros are destroying equipment worth millions, and software updated in a matter of weeks is gaining the upper hand over systems designed to last twenty years. The figures compiled by Sopra Steria bear out this shift: $417 billion as the global cost of disinformation (15 per cent of French GDP), a ratio of 1 to 20 between an attack drone and the missile sent to intercept it, 70 to 80 per cent of Ukrainian losses caused by drones, and €800 billion in capability needs identified by the European Commission’s Readiness 2030 plan.
The trend book identifies ten trends grouped around three imperatives:
- Monitor and absorb saturation
- Win the war before the war: act in the information domain
- Strengthen air defence through counter-drone capabilities
- Give Europe a space defence capability
- Orchestrate multi-domain military action
- Act faster than the adversary
- Build a sovereign, secure and trusted defence AI
- Share and exploit data in operations
- Move from exploration to action with quantum
- Build and regenerate over the long term
- Restore strategic depth
- Integrate drones into combat at scale
- Structure new models of defence innovation
These trends are not forecasting exercises: they describe what is already unfolding in the theatres of operations. The only question that remains is one of tempo.
How do you keep the advantage in the face of saturation?
The answer lies less in a catalogue of technologies than in the ability to connect systems, data and players. This is the role Sopra Steria lays claim to: that of a defence industrial player that is at once part of the defence technological and industrial base and a digital services company, working for interoperability, sovereign digital technology and trust. A concrete example: the BOREADES counter-drone command-and-control system, developed by Sopra Steria over more than ten years and proven at numerous major national and international sporting events in recent years.
Benoît Chatelain, Director of the Defence, Security and Space vertical at Sopra Steria, says: ‘This analysis shows that while digital technology is not enough to win a war, no advantage is possible without it. Data, AI and interoperability now determine superiority, and at a time when Europe is rearming, Sopra Steria’s ambition is to be its trusted partner, in defence as in space’.
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Key points
- Sopra Steria is publishing Next Perspectives Defence, Security and Space, a trend book on the ten trends reshaping the defence sector in Europe, ahead of Eurosatory 2026.
- The central thread: in a ‘war of saturation’ (informational, air-defence, space, logistics), superiority is no longer measured by the power of technological platforms, but by speed of adaptation, command of data and the capacity for mass production.
- Three structuring imperatives for Europe’s armed forces, agencies and industry: monitor and absorb saturation, act faster than the adversary, build and regenerate over the long term.
- Sopra Steria lays claim to a distinctive position: a new kind of defence industrial player, both part of the defence world and a digital services company, working for interoperability and European digital sovereignty.