The capability could become part of NATO's Alliance Ground Surveillance and Unmanned Aerial Systems Programme.

NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is looking to procure “tactical UAS” capable of operating in Arctic environments, according to a ‘Future Business Opportunity’ (FBO) notice published on the authority’s website.

Announced on 5 January, this FBO serves as an alert to industry of a future, potential large contract, allowing companies to prepare ahead of an expected request for proposals on 2 March 2026.

In addition to being capable of operating in Arctic conditions, the UAS must have a maximum take-off weight of 150kg or less, a minimum line-of-sight communications range of 120km, and an endurance of at least 10 hours.

The number of units expected to be acquired is not provided in the notice, although, this is not unusual in the pre-tender stage. It does, however, require the UAS to have ground control system modularity, enabling integration with vehicles, and stipulates that the selected supplier will be responsible for providing initial in-service support.

The purchasing organisation for this potential future procurement is the Alliance Ground Surveillance and Unmanned Aerial Systems Programme – NATO’s core airborne surveillance and UAS capability initiative.

The core capability deployed under this programme currently is Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4D Phoenix high-altitude, long-endurance UAS which provides NATO countries with intelligence data.