📋 Key facts in 30 seconds
✓AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition is the largest land-warfare trade show in North America, organised by the Association of the United States Army at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington DC.
✓2026 edition: 12 to 14 October 2026, exhibit halls open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm each day. 2027 edition: October 2027, exact dates to be confirmed by AUSA (trade calendars list 11 to 13 October).
✓Scale: the organiser cites 750+ exhibits, over 40,000 attendees and representation from 100+ countries.
✓Booth space: $62 per square foot, i.e. $6,200 for a 10 x 10 ft booth, from 2027. Exhibitors must be AUSA National Partners (first-time small businesses excepted).
✓The booth itself is a separate budget: from €600/m² for a modular booth, €600 to €1,500/m² for a custom build, plus DC labour and drayage.
What we do: Decore Studio Events designs and builds custom exhibition stands for exhibitors. We do not sell floor space or entry tickets: to book a space or a badge, contact the show organiser.
What is the AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition? 🪖
The AUSA Annual Meeting & Exposition, often shortened to AUSA or the AUSA trade show, is the yearly gathering of the Association of the United States Army. For three days in October, Washington DC hosts the US Army leadership, allied armies, government officials and the whole land-defence industry under one roof.
It is both a professional forum (keynotes by the Army leadership, panels, contemporary military forums) and a trade exhibition with 750+ exhibits covering vehicles, weapons, electronics, drones, logistics and services. For a European supplier, it is the most direct way to meet US Army programme offices, prime contractors and foreign delegations in a single hall.
AUSA 2027 dates, venue and opening hours 📌
| Item | AUSA Annual Meeting |
|---|---|
| 2026 edition | <strong>Monday 12 to Wednesday 14 October 2026</strong> |
| 2027 edition | <strong>October 2027</strong>, exact dates to be confirmed by AUSA (trade calendars list 11 to 13 October 2027) |
| Venue | <strong>Walter E. Washington Convention Center</strong>, 801 Allen Y. Lew Place NW, Washington, DC 20001 |
| Exhibit hall hours | <strong>9:00 am to 5:00 pm</strong> each day (2026 schedule) |
| Side venue | Marriott Marquis Washington DC (901 Massachusetts Avenue NW) for some forums and social events |
| Organiser | Association of the United States Army (AUSA), meetings.ausa.org |
The 2026 show has just closed. AUSA publishes the following year's dates on its meetings website; we will update this page as soon as the 2027 dates are official. The pattern is stable: Monday to Wednesday, second week of October, same convention centre.
AUSA 2026 recap
AUSA 2026 took place from 12 to 14 October 2026 with exhibit halls open 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, 750+ exhibits and the usual mix of Army leadership keynotes, contemporary military forums and international delegations. The 2027 exhibit space draft was held on site during that week, which is why most large booths for 2027 are already allocated.
Getting to the convention centre
- Metro: Mt Vernon Sq / 7th St-Convention Center station (Green and Yellow lines) opens directly onto the building.
- Airports: Reagan National (DCA) is 15 to 20 minutes by taxi; Dulles (IAD) about 45 minutes.
- Hotels: the Marriott Marquis is connected to the convention centre; book early, the AUSA week fills downtown DC.
Who can attend AUSA? Registration and badges 🎫
AUSA is not a public show. Every registrant must have an "identifiable relationship" with AUSA: AUSA members, serving members of the Armed Forces and their immediate family, employees of exhibiting companies, federal civilian or contracted employees, media, and foreign military or embassy staff. AUSA reserves the right to refuse admission.
- Printed badge required to enter the exhibit halls and ticketed functions; every registrant also receives a digital access pass.
- Minors: nobody under 13; 13 to 18 year olds must be registered, badged and accompanied by an adult, and are never allowed in the halls outside show hours.
- Social events (dinners, receptions) are ticketed separately on the registration site.
- Exhibitor staff are registered through the exhibiting company's allocation of badges.
If you are a European company without a US entity, your staff still qualify as employees of an exhibiting company once your booth is confirmed. Plan passports, visas or ESTA early: the exhibitor badge does not replace US entry formalities.
Choose the right AUSA booth in 1 min 🧭
A 10 x 10 ft inline booth, a 20 x 20 ft island with a vehicle on display or a double-deck booth with private meeting rooms do not answer the same brief. Three questions are enough to point you to the right format.
Who exhibits at AUSA? 🛡️
The halls group the entire land-warfare supply chain: from primes with full-size armoured vehicles to component makers with a single display case. The organiser counts more than 600 National Partners taking part in the booth space draft, and over 40,000 attendees from more than 100 countries.
- Platforms: tactical and armoured vehicles, artillery, air defence, rotary wing.
- Soldier systems: weapons, optics, protective equipment, communications.
- C5ISR and software: command and control, sensors, cyber, data, training and simulation.
- Uncrewed and counter-uncrewed systems: drones, loitering munitions, counter-UAS.
- Logistics and services: sustainment, energy, engineering, education, veterans' organisations.
To exhibit, a company must be an AUSA National Partner (corporate membership). The only exception is for first-time small businesses. Booth space is allocated through an exhibit space draft held on site during the previous show: the 2027 draft takes place 11 to 14 October in the Exhibit Sales Office of the convention centre.
How much does a trade show booth at AUSA cost? 💶
| Budget line | Indicative cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Booth space (organiser) | <strong>$62 per sq ft</strong>, i.e. <strong>$6,200 per 10 x 10 ft</strong> | Rate announced by AUSA from 2027; islands and larger spaces scale with the area |
| Co-exhibitor fee | $1,000 (AUSA members) / $2,000 (non-members) | Per additional company sharing your booth |
| Modular booth | From <strong>€600/m²</strong> | Reusable system, graphics and lighting, ideal for a first AUSA |
| Custom booth | <strong>€600 to €1,500/m²</strong> | Bespoke design, meeting rooms, vehicle or product staging |
| Double-deck booth | On request | Private briefing rooms upstairs, demo floor downstairs |
| DC specifics | Quoted per show | Union labour for installation, drayage, rigging, electrical connections billed by the general contractor |
Figures in this table are indicative and vary by stand size, materials, show rules and the general contractor. Ask for a personalised quote for an accurate budget.
The space sold by AUSA comes without walls, flooring, lighting or furniture. Everything the visitor sees is a second budget: see our guide to exhibition stand costs for the drivers of the price per square metre, and our modular trade show booth offer if you exhibit several times a year.
Decore Studio Events designs your booth in Paris, has it produced by partner workshops and installed by local partner crews in Washington DC, and manages the technical file, the general contractor and the union-labour rules for you.
Why exhibit at AUSA 2027? 🎯
- Meet the buyers: US Army programme offices, prime contractors and allied procurement delegations walk the halls for three days.
- Be seen by the leadership: keynotes and forums bring the Army's decision-makers to the convention centre.
- Benchmark the market: every competitor and every new system is on the floor.
- Open the US market: for a European supplier, AUSA is the natural follow-up to Eurosatory in Paris and the land-defence counterpart of Euronaval.
At AUSA, your booth competes with full-size vehicles and immersive demos. A custom trade show booth with a staged product, a briefing room and clear messaging does the work of a sales team. Our stand builders in New York page explains how we run the US East Coast file: general contractor, local installation crews, freight.
How to exhibit at AUSA: timeline for a European company 🗓️
- 12 months before: confirm AUSA National Partner membership and take part in the space draft held during the previous show (or apply for remaining space afterwards).
- 8 to 6 months before: brief your stand builder, validate the concept and the budget, check the exhibitor manual (height limits, hanging signs, structural approvals).
- 4 months before: freeze the design; order graphics; check export-control rules (ITAR) for any hardware you plan to display.
- 2 months before: ship or source locally; file the general contractor forms (electrical, rigging, drayage); book badges and hotels.
- Show week: installation by local crews under union rules, rehearsal of demos, dismantling the evening of 14 October.
Not sure how to brief a builder? Read how to brief your stand builder and our guide to exhibiting at a trade show. For a hands-off project, our turnkey exhibition stand service covers design, production, logistics and installation.
⚠️ Important
We are not the organisers of the AUSA Annual Meeting and do not provide badges, registration or exhibit space. Registration, membership and booth space are handled by AUSA on meetings.ausa.org.
Our role is exclusively to design, build and install trade show booths, so that you can exhibit in the best possible conditions.
👉 Exhibiting at AUSA 2027 and looking for a booth that sells? Get in touch via this dedicated page
Further reading 📚
▸ How much does an exhibition stand cost?
▸ Double-deck exhibition stand
Every project is unique. Tell us about your show, your floor space and your objectives: we'll come back to you with an initial concept and a detailed quote.
