European Defence Week and Euronaval gave Water Linked a week of exchanges with vehicle developers, defence companies and investors, spanning French-Norwegian cooperation, maritime security and the business of scaling technology.
Assel Issina, Head of Marketing, and Scott McLay, Chief Commercial Officer, represented Water Linked in Paris during the week of 2 - 6 November 2026.
The French-Norwegian Defence Industries Forum opened the programme, with Scott contributing to the panel on Subsea, Autonomous Systems, Sensors & Naval Defence. Discussions continued at the Norwegian Embassy reception, providing time to meet people working across the two countries’ defence sectors.
Financing the companies behind the technology
Investment, legislation and procurement featured prominently throughout European Defence Week. Panels and startup pitches examined how young technology companies can secure funding, work with established manufacturers and build the capacity to supply defence customers.
These subjects resonated with Water Linked’s own experience, from our beginnings in Trondheim to investment from Equinor Ventures and Investinor, participation in NATO DIANA, and becoming part of NORBIT in 2026.
Maritime security and exchanges on Ukraine
One-to-one meetings provided opportunities to discuss underwater vehicle development and the protection of ports, offshore energy installations and subsea infrastructure.
Ukraine’s experience also informed the week’s discussions. Water Linked sensors have reached Ukraine through our customers and technology integration partners, including for defence applications. Paris offered an opportunity to continue exchanges begun with Ukrainian defence-industry representatives at Forsvarskonferansen earlier this year.
Customer and partner meetings at Euronaval
Scott also visited Euronaval to meet customers and partners. Autonomous and uncrewed systems, seabed surveillance and underwater situational awareness were particularly relevant to Water Linked’s work with vehicle manufacturers.
Our DVLs, Sonar 3D-15 and acoustic communication technologies provide components developers can incorporate into these systems. The meetings offered an opportunity to discuss where those technologies could contribute to upcoming projects.
Our thanks to Innovation Norway, the Royal Norwegian Embassy in France, Bpifrance, EuroQuity, Ocean Autonomy Cluster and everyone who met with us during the week.