Daniel Kočí
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, Distinguished Guests, Business Partners, Participants and Friends of FUTURE FORCES FORUM,
In October 2026, Prague will once again bring together senior representatives of the armed and security forces, governments, international organisations, the defence and security industry, research institutions and academia from the Czech Republic and around the world.
Future Forces Forum enters its sixteenth edition at a time when the security environment in Europe and across the Euro-Atlantic area is undergoing profound and unprecedented change. The pace and scale of this transformation are greater than at any time in recent decades. Against this backdrop, we firmly believe that professional dialogue, international cooperation and the sharing of experience have never been more important.
We are planning the defence and security capabilities of tomorrow in a world defined by strategic competition, protracted conflicts, hybrid threats, rapid technological change and growing demands for the resilience of our states and societies.
The war in Ukraine has provided a stark reminder of how quickly the character of modern warfare can evolve. It has also demonstrated the importance of continuously identifying and assessing emerging threats, adapting to changing conditions and, above all, translating operational experience, innovation and technological progress into effective capabilities at speed.
Security today is about far more than the size of our armed forces or the amount of equipment we possess. It is about readiness, resilience, industrial capacity, technological advantage, effective decision-making and, above all, our ability as Allies and partners to act together.
Technology alone, however, is never enough. What matters is our ability to develop, produce, integrate, deploy, sustain and continuously improve the capabilities we need. Building credible and resilient defence is a long-term endeavour. It requires political commitment, responsible planning, sustained investment and, most importantly, close cooperation between governments, armed forces, industry, research institutions and wider society.
This is at the heart of the Future Forces Forum mission.
We do not see FFF simply as a platform for presenting new technologies. We see it as a place where operational requirements meet industrial capabilities, where research and innovation meet practical experience, and where strategic ambitions are translated into tangible solutions.
Our aim is to facilitate open and meaningful professional dialogue, connect people and institutions, strengthen partnerships and help accelerate the journey from identifying a capability requirement, through research, development and cooperation, to delivering a real operational capability.
Future Forces Forum 2026 will therefore provide a comprehensive programme addressing many of the key challenges shaping the future of defence and security.
Alongside the international exhibition and the professional forum, Prague will host official meetings of NATO working groups, as well as a wide range of international conferences and expert-level discussions. These will address, among other areas, the future development of defence capabilities, air and land forces, unmanned and autonomous systems, robotics, the cyber and space domains, CBRN protection, dismounted soldier systems, logistics and national resilience.
Importantly, FFF 2026 will not look only at the capabilities we require today. It will focus increasingly on the capabilities we will need towards 2035 and beyond.
One of the defining challenges ahead is for Europe and its Allies not simply to invest more, but to invest smarter, faster and with a long-term strategic perspective.
Strengthening defence capabilities must go hand in hand with strengthening our defence industrial base, production and supply chains, research and innovation, critical infrastructure and overall societal resilience.
The emerging security environment requires us to move beyond traditional boundaries between individual domains and to develop genuinely integrated capabilities. This is why cooperation between the public and private sectors, between governments and industry, and across the military, security, academic and research communities is one of the fundamental principles of Future Forces Forum.
We firmly believe that the Czech Republic has an important role to play in this effort.
Our country has a strong industrial and engineering tradition, a well-established foundation in technical education, research and development, and, above all, a proven ability to combine experience with innovation.
Future Forces Forum provides an opportunity to showcase these capabilities to the international community while, at the same time, bringing to the Czech Republic new expertise, technologies and partners who can contribute to the further development of our common defence and security capabilities.
The future of security will not be shaped by a single technology, a single institution or a single nation.
It will be shaped by our ability to cooperate, share information and experience, adapt rapidly and develop credible capabilities together.
This is why personal engagement, professional dialogue and the building of long-term relationships remain so important. In an increasingly complex security environment, trust and cooperation are not an option — they are a strategic necessity.
Allow me, therefore, to express my sincere appreciation to all representatives of the Czech Republic and our international partners, to international organisations, armed and security forces, professional institutions, industry partners, exhibitors, speakers and everyone else who has contributed to the preparation of Future Forces Forum 2026.
We greatly value your trust, your commitment and your cooperation.
I am confident that this year's Future Forces Forum will once again demonstrate that Prague is a place where strategic visions meet practical solutions, where expertise is transformed into cooperation, and where partnerships can be built that make a genuine and lasting contribution to our common security.
On behalf of the entire FUTURE FORCES FORUM team, I warmly invite you to join us in Prague.
I look forward to welcoming you to Future Forces Forum 2026 and to our shared discussion on how we can prepare our defence and security capabilities for a world that is changing rapidly, profoundly and permanently.
Daniel KOČÍ
CEO of FFF
