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2026 Eastern Defense Summit • December 8-10, 2026

The Eastern Defense Summit is the premier defense-focused event on the East Coast, bringing together more than 2,300 leaders from government, military, academia, and industry to address the challenges shaping the future of national defense.

As strategic competition intensifies and the character of warfare continues to evolve, maintaining military advantage requires more than innovation alone. The United States must be able to identify operational needs, accelerate acquisition, strengthen industrial capacity, and deliver capabilities to the warfighter at the speed required to meet emerging threats.

The 2026 Summit theme, "Collaborating on Actionable Solutions for Our Nation's Pacing Threats: From Mission Need to Fielded Capability: Speed, Scale, and Operational Advantage" reflects the urgency of translating mission requirements into operational capability. Discussions will focus on the policies, partnerships, acquisition strategies, industrial capacity, and emerging technologies needed to move solutions from concept to deployment faster and at greater scale.

The 2026 Eastern Defense Summit will be held in person at the Charleston Area Convention Center in North Charleston, South Carolina—a location where military, government, academia, and industry come together to support the nation's defense mission.

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