Farnborough International Airshow 2026 has come to an end, after four days in which Elemaster Group was present on the exhibition floor to engage with the international aviation and aerospace ecosystem. For a group active in the design, manufacturing and testing of electronics for avionics, aerospace and space applications, this ecosystem represents one of the areas from which the next phase of growth is expected to emerge.
A global aerospace meeting point
Farnborough alternates each year with its Paris counterpart and remains one of Europe’s most representative aerospace events. The 2026 edition confirmed this role. Alongside visitors from Europe, Elemaster’s team met stakeholders from markets as distant as Japan and Australia, a geographic reach that reflected the direction in which the industry is moving.
During the exhibition, Elemaster welcomed customers, partners and new prospects, presenting its expertise in high-reliability electronic manufacturing services for mission-critical aerospace and avionics applications. The event offered a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, consolidate existing relationships and explore new collaborations within the global aerospace ecosystem.
“What stood out most at FIA 2026 was the industry’s clear commitment to combining innovation with resilience. From digitalisation and sustainable aviation to next-generation aerospace and space technologies, the conversations confirmed that success will increasingly depend on trusted manufacturing partners capable of delivering quality, flexibility and technological excellence. Elemaster is proud to be part of this journey”, said Imad Ait El Haj, Sales Director Central Europe and Benelux
The final day, dedicated to Pioneers of Tomorrow, further underlined the importance of investing in future generations. By involving students, young professionals and aspiring engineers, the initiative showed how today’s talent will become tomorrow’s innovators, supporting the long-term growth and competitiveness of the aerospace industry.
Commenting on the initiative, Imad Ait El Haj added: “Innovation is not only about the technology we build today; it’s about inspiring the people who will shape the aerospace industry of tomorrow. At Elemaster, we are proud to contribute to both”.
The strength of the Italian supply chain
The international dimension of the event was only one part of the picture. In Pavilion 1, where Elemaster was located, around half of the exhibitors were Italian companies, representing electromechanical, hydraulic and mechanical production as well as electronics.
This concentration was not incidental. While avionics is becoming increasingly international, the defence segment continues to rely strongly on domestic supply chains, with Italian manufacturers remaining preferred partners for Italian defence programmes. On the exhibition floor, this created a cluster capable of covering an entire aerospace production chain, from raw components to finished and certified assemblies.
From suppliers to life-cycle partners
One of the clearest signals from the show concerned what structured customers are now seeking. Providing a single isolated service, whether engineering, manufacturing or testing, is no longer sufficient. Buyers increasingly look for partners able to support a product throughout its full life cycle, combining cross-disciplinary competences across design, industrialisation and support.
“Clients now look for partners who can accompany them along the whole life cycle of a product, not just a supplier who executes one service. That is one of the clearest trends we picked up in Farnborough”, says Matteo Legovic, Sales Manager, Avionics & Space Business Unit, Elemaster.
Smarter, connected and autonomous systems
Artificial intelligence and digital twins were strongly present across the exhibition. They were part of a broader movement towards smarter and more connected systems, where electronics, software and connectivity are increasingly designed as a single integrated layer rather than as separate elements.
This push towards digitalisation also extended to defence-specific topics, including resilience to electromagnetic interference for drones, protection against cyberattacks, electronic-warfare countermeasures and the growing use of autonomous platforms, from defence drones to delivery vehicles.
At the same time, the presence of electrically powered helicopter concepts pointed to a parallel trend towards electrification and hybrid propulsion, marking the aerospace sector’s own path towards the green transition.
Testing as the final link in the chain
None of these innovations can reach an aircraft without rigorous validation, and this brought forward a second, more operational theme.
“Testing is as important as it is fundamental in a critical sector like aerospace, where certification requirements sit at the very top of industrial standards. For civil applications especially, testing 100% of products at the highest level is mandatory to guarantee reliability over time”, states Riccardo Venturelli, Project Manager at Eletech, Head of International Design Centres, R&D division of Elemaster Group.
This is where Elemaster’s structure becomes especially relevant. The group brings together design, production and an in-house testing laboratory under one roof, including an anechoic chamber used to measure electromagnetic emissions and certify products against interference. The certifications required to operate in aerospace are already in place.
This combination reflects precisely what structured customers were asking for at the show: a partner capable of moving from schematic to certified, flight-ready hardware without the product changing hands throughout the process.
The same integration of design, industrialisation and testing also supports Elemaster’s largest space project to date: a 45 million euros contract awarded by the SKA Observatory to design and build the signal processing system for the SKA-Low radio telescope, one of the most ambitious scientific infrastructure programmes in the world.
A limited share with strategic value
Avionics, aerospace and space currently account for around 5% of Elemaster’s overall business. However, the company considers the sector’s relevance to extend beyond this percentage. It is an area where a significant part of industrial innovation originates, and being present allows Elemaster to gain early visibility into trends that will later influence its other markets.
This, more than any individual order, is what four days at Farnborough delivered and why the group intends to continue taking part, year after year.