Programme
ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
The Armament Industry European Research Group (ARES Group) was created in 2016 by The French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS), who coordinates the Group. The aim of the Ares Group, a high-level network of security and defence specialists across Europe, is to provide a forum to the European armament community, bringing together top defence industrial policy specialists, to encourage fresh strategic thinking in the field, develop innovative policy proposals and conduct studies for public and private actors.
The club brings together experienced armament policy and defence industrial policy experts, working accross European universities and think tanks.
ARES Group’s activities:
• Publications:
– Comments: short-format opinion pieces
– Policy Papers: medium format notes
– Reports: long format studies
These publications are freely available on the Group’s website. Policy Papers and Reports are written jointly by two or more experts to provide a cross-eyes approach to one subject.
• Two annual seminars take place in Brussels and Paris supported by the material produced by the Group.
ARES Series
Publications
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
26 January 2026
Building a European Geospatial Intelligence Capability: Mapping Initiatives, Identifying Gaps, and Outlining Strategic Options
Sandra Mezzadri
ARES’s Scientific Advisor and Senior Defence Industry Expert
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
13 January 2026
Funding European Defence: What Role and Instruments for the EU?
ARES Group
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
8 January 2026
Which Type of Armament Cooperation Do We Want/Need? The Case of Italy
Alessandro Marrone
Head of Defence Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
Policy Papers
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
8 July 2025
Investing in European Defence Industry: The Case for a Sovereign Defence Investment Fund
Sylvie Matelly
Director, The Jacques Delors Institute (Paris)
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
17 June 2025
The Involvement of Third-Country Entities in EU Defence Industrial Policies and the “European Design Authority” Concept
Federico Santopinto
Senior Research Fellow at IRIS, Head of the Europe, EU, NATO Programme on EU/NATO issues
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
14 May 2025
Sovereignty by Design? Security of Supply in Defence in the European Union
Daniel Fiott
Professor, CSDS, Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Non-Resident Fellow, Real Instituto Elcano
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
8 April 2025
Three Trajectories for Defence Spending in the EU and Their Consequences for the European Industry and Capabilities
Renaud Bellais
Associate Researcher, CESICE, Grenoble Alps
Łukasz Maślanka
Senior Fellow, Security and Defence Department, OSW Centre for Eastern Studies
Torben Schütz
Senior Expert in European Security Policy
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
4 December 2024
Integrated Arsenals? Mapping Defence Industrial Relations Between Europe and Ukraine
Daniel Fiott
Non-Resident Fellow, Real Instituto Elcano and Professor, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy – VUB
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
18 July 2023
Russia’s War Against Ukraine: A New Impetus for the Harmonisation of European Arms Export Policies? A Trilateral Perspective from France, Germany, and Sweden
Lucie Béraud-Sudreau
Director of the Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, SIPRI
Pia Fuhrhop
Deputy Head of Research Division, SWP
Jean-Pierre Maulny
Deputy Director, IRIS
Christian Mölling
Deputy Director, DGAP
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
30 March 2023
EDIRPA/EDIP: Risks and Opportunities of Future Joint Procurement Incentives for the European Defence Market
Gaspard Schnitzler
Senior Research Fellow at IRIS, Head of the Defence and Security Industry Programme
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
20 March 2023
Articulating ESG Criteria and the Financing of the EDTIB: A Prospective View
Sylvie Matelly
Former Deputy Director of IRIS
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
15 July 2020
The (R)evolution of Defence Innovation Models: Rationales and Consequences
Prof. Dr. Valérie Merindol
Professor of Innovation
Prof. Dr. David W. Versailles
Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation Studies, Paris School of Business
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
1 April 2022
EU Civil-Defence Synergies: Understanding the Challenges and Drivers of Change
Daniel Fiott
Security and Defence Editor, EU Institute for Security Studies
Michalis Ketselidis
Senior Expert, European Commission
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
2 September 2021
What Scope for EU-US Defence Industrial Cooperation in the 2020s?
Daniel Fiott
Security and Defence Editor, EU Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)
Jean-Pierre Maulny
Deputy Director, IRIS
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
24 June 2021
The European Defence Fund and Space: Added Values and Priorities
Paul Weissenberg
Former Deputy Director General at European Commission and Member of the Air and Space Academy
Xavier Pasco
Director of the Foundation for Strategic Research (FRS)
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
19 January 2018
The Relationship Between Prime Bontractors and SMEs. How to Best Manage and Fund Cooperative Programmes
Patrick Bellouard
President, Eurodéfense France
Antonio Fonfria
Professor of Applied Economics, Complutense University of Madrid
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
5 December 2016
Today’s Technological Innovations for Tomorrow’s Defence
Christophe-Alexandre Paillard
French Senior Official, Senior Lecturer (Sciences Po Paris)
Professor Nick Butler
King’s College, London
Notes / ARES Group - The Armament Industry European Research Group
27 April 2016
A ‘Game Changer’? The EU’S Preparatory Action on Defence Research
Daniel Fiott
Researcher, Institute for European Studies, Free University of Brussels
Renaud Bellais
Associate Researcher in Economics, ENSTA Bretagne, France
Events
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01 JUL 2025 > 02 JUL 2025
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They lead the ARES network
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Deputy Director, IRIS
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Senior Research Fellow at IRIS, Head of the Europe, EU, NATO Programme on EU/NATO issues
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Senior Research Fellow, IRIS
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Research Fellow at IRIS, Head of the Europe, EU and NATO Programme on political developments in European countries
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Research Fellow, IRIS
Steering Board
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Jean-Pierre Maulny
Deputy Director of IRIS, president of ARES Steering Board
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Elvia Delpal
EU & NATO Political Affairs Manager, KNDS France
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Didier Gondallier de Tugny
Strategic Cooperation Deputy Director in charge of EU/NATO, MBDA
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Alexandre Houle
Strategy Director, Thales
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Vincent Quintana
Director of Public Affairs – France and Europe, Grouping of Land and Air-Land Defense and Security Industries (GICAT)
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Hilmar Linnenkamp
Advisor, SWP, Berlin
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Nick Witney
Senior Policy Fellow, ECFR, London
Scientific Advisors
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Renaud Bellais
Associate researcher, Université Grenoble Alpes
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Martin Chovančík
Assistant professor, Department of International Relations and European Studies, Masaryk University
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Daniel Fiott
Head, Defence and Statecraft Programme, Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy, Brussels School of Governance; Assistant Professor, Vrije Universiteit Brussel; Non-Resident Fellow, Real Instituto Elcano
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Bastian Giegerich
Director-General and Chief Executive, IISS
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Justyna Gotkowska
Deputy Director, Centre for Eastern Studies – OSW
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Elena Lazarou
Director General of ELIAMEP
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Alessandro Marrone
Head of Defence, Security and Space Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)
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Sylvie Matelly
Director, Institut Jacques Delors
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Deputy Director, IRIS
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Sandra Mezzadri
MSB consulting
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Christian Mölling
Senior Advisor, The European Policy Centre
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Jana Puglierin
Senior Policy Fellow, Head of, ECFR Berlin
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Ester Sabatino
Research Associate for Defence and Military Analysis, IISS Europe
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Senior Research Fellow at IRIS, Head of the Europe, EU, NATO Programme on EU/NATO issues
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Luigi Scazzieri
Senior Policy Analyst, EUISS
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Gaspard Schnitzler
Head of bilateral affairs Europe, Safran
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Margarita Šešelgytė
Director at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science, Vilnius University
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Research Fellow at IRIS, Head of the Europe, EU and NATO Programme on political developments in European countries
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Trevor Taylor
Professorial Research Fellow, Defence, Industries and Society, RUSI
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Research Fellow, IRIS
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Auke Venema
Senior Research Fellow, Clingendael Institute