Presented by NATO DIANA:
BLUF: Europe's drone startups are attracting hypervaluations that suggest unrealistic revenue expectations. The pile-on of investment also risks pulling resources away from other defense needs.
Bullish investors argue that drone companies’ future value will lie in software and AI, which will allow them to become even more valuable than today’s defense primes.
As electronic warfare increasingly threatens GNSS-dependent systems, US startup Keraunos is seeking European partners to develop a lightning-based alternative for positioning and navigation.
Danish mine-detection specialist UMAG Solutions and Swedish drone manufacturer Airolit have partnered to offer an airborne system for detecting naval mines.
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A Message from NATO DIANA: NATO opens Challenge Call for its 2027 Accelerator Programme
NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) has launched its 2027 Challenge Call, inviting innovators from across the Alliance to submit solutions to six defence and security challenges.
Selected companies will become part of DIANA’s 2027 cohort of innovators and take part in a six-month accelerator programme beginning in January, designed to accelerate the development and adoption of dual-use and defence technologies that strengthen Allied operational capabilities and address emerging security needs.
Innovators will receive €100,000 of contractual funding, access to more than 200 test centres across Europe and North America, and opportunities to work with military end users.
Innovators can submit proposals for one of six challenge areas including:
Human Survivability
Multidomain Autonomy of Uncrewed Systems
Multidomain Sensing and Advanced Data Processing for Intelligence and Surveillance
Operational Resilience in Contested Environments
Responsive Logistics
Scalable and Adaptable Countermeasures for Air Defence
To learn more about how DIANA works, view here.
For DIANA’s Challenge Statements and how to apply, click here.
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A message from NATO DIANA: Learn more about NATO DIANA’s 2027 Challenge Call through upcoming webinars covering the challenges, application process, and selection criteria.
DIANA’s first webinar introduces DIANA’s Accelerator Programme, including entry requirements, benefits and opportunities for selected innovators. It also provides an overview of the Rapid Adoption Service, TEVV and OPEX opportunities available throughout the programme.
Webinar 2: What makes a good application: Overview of challenges and selection criteria – 4 June, 3 PM BST
This session will provide insight into the key elements evaluators consider when assessing proposals. It will also include an overview of DIANA’s latest challenges, along with application requirements and selection criteria.
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Kaspers Pollaks has joined Latvian small-caliber ammunition manufacturer Ammunity as its new CEO.
Felix Woessner has joined German defense giant Rheinmetall as a senior business development manager. He was previously at missile manufacturer Diehl.
Charlotte Philips has been promoted to senior commercial officer at Leonardo in Luton, southeast England.
Giuseppe Valente has been promoted to head of cyber engineering and compliance with the EU’s NIS2 cybersecurity directive at Leonardo in Rome.
The Belgian Royal Military Academy in Brussels wants to hire a researcher in chemical propulsion.
Are you a European defense tech startup that’s trying to raise capital?
We’d like to hear from you. Send us your 30-second elevator pitch explaining what you do, how much you’re trying to raise and what for—along with a few remarks from a senior member of your team—and we’ll consider it for this slot in our next newsletter.
Send your pitch to [email protected].
The United States has signaled willingness in diplomatic talks to expand its nuclear weapons deployments in Europe, in order to reassure allies of its commitment to NATO, the Financial Times reports.
Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš told the Financial Times that his country will miss NATO’s defense spending target of 2 percent of GDP. But he said he isn’t expecting criticism from Donald Trump because “I am a Trumpist.”
The Cypriot government wants guarantees that a future British government led by Nigel Farage would be unable to allow the US to use British military bases on the island to strike targets in the Middle East, Politico reports.
Australia, Britain and the US—the ‘AUKUS’ alliance for Indo-Pacific security—will jointly develop unmanned submarines, Reuters reports.
The French Navy has boarded and seized an oil tanker suspected of belonging to Russia’s sanctions-dodging ‘shadow fleet,’ The Times reports.
