Eight defence technology companies working in contested electromagnetic environments have completed the first phase of NATO’s DIANA accelerator programme through its UK hub, demonstrating their systems to defence leaders, industry and investors at a Demo Day hosted at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom.
The 2026 UK cohort, run by Janus Allies, the UK accelerator for NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic and appointed delivery partner on behalf of UK Defence Innovation, spent six months working alongside end users, defence and commercial mentors and delivery partners to refine technologies against UK and allied operational priorities.
The cohort’s shared focus is the electromagnetic spectrum, the domain of signals, satellite links and communications on which every modern capability depends and which adversaries now actively disrupt and exploit, from the GPS jamming that has become routine around NATO’s borders to the spoofing and interference documented across the war in Ukraine.
The technologies shown spanned electronic warfare, resilient communications and advanced positioning, ranging from an American airborne electronic warfare platform from CX2 using an RF sensing drone to detect and track signal emitters live, through Slipstream Design’s wideband radar processing with adaptive RF control and digital beamforming, to Tern AI’s alternative positioning system delivering navigation without GPS, SDQ Solutions Canada’s real-time RF threat detection and quantum-resistant anti-spoofing for satellite navigation, FOSSA’s nanosatellite low-power communications demonstrated over a live satellite link, France’s Oledcomm with LiFi drone-to-vehicle links that emit no radio frequency signature, Estonia’s AMA Defence with protective nanocoatings for autonomous systems, and Testnor’s GNSS-denied test environments for validating equipment in degraded conditions.
Major General Peter Rowell, Chief Executive and Commandant of the Defence Academy, told the event: “Conflict is evolving at pace, and our adversaries are already adapting and fielding capabilities in real time. The challenge for the UK and the NATO Alliance is not a shortage of innovation, but our ability to turn ideas into action. That is fundamentally a leadership challenge. Advantage will depend on leaders who can make decisions at speed, build trust across nations and sectors, and integrate new capabilities under pressure. Initiatives like DIANA are absolutely vital, but it is trust, and the strength of our relationships, that will ultimately determine how quickly we move from innovation to operational effect.”
Ryan Benitez, Chief Commercial Officer of NATO DIANA, pointed to the alliance’s Rapid Adoption Service as the mechanism for closing the gap between technology and procurement. “Technology moves at pace, but defence adoption has, historically, taken years. NATO DIANA exists to close that gap,” he said. “Many innovators have secured their first contract as a direct result of this programme. NATO DIANA was purpose-built to accelerate the deployment of promising technologies, and we are now seeing tangible results from this mission.”
Tanya Suarez, Founder and CEO of IoT Tribe and lead partner of the Janus Allies consortium, said securing the alliance against emerging electromagnetic threats “is not about one company gaining a contract or investor backing; it’s about creating a network of technology leaders that are constantly iterating and adapting to address new challenges.” James Gavin, Deputy Director of UK Defence Innovation, said: “The majority of the technologies that will define the next decade of defence are already out there, in a lab, a startup, a university. The work that remains is creating an environment where innovators can turn a promising technology into something a soldier, sailor or aviator can actually rely on. This is the progress that the NATO DIANA programme advances.”
A further 21 UK-based companies participating in the wider NATO DIANA 2026 programme also featured at the event, working across themes including advanced communications, autonomy, data analysis, critical infrastructure, energy systems, human resilience and space operations, and selected companies from the cohort will now have the opportunity to continue into the programme’s next phase, covering further technical development, experimentation and engagement with end users. UK Defence Innovation, the organisation on whose behalf Janus delivers the accelerator, consolidates defence innovation into a single system within the National Armaments Director Group at the Ministry of Defence, part of the structure the Defence Investment Plan relies on to move technology from concept to the front line at the pace the document demands.
