NATO and Ukraine announced the launch of the Ukraine-NATO Innovation, Technology and Engineering (UNITE) programme on 25 November to rapidly accelerate defence innovation.  

Dubbed ‘UNITE: Brave NATO’, the programme will look to bring together innovators from both sides to rapidly scale and prototype innovations, such as counter drone and communications technology, to help meet interoperability goals, according to a NATO statement. 

This will involve releasing competitions out to industry, coordinated by NATO and Ukraine’s Brave1 defence-tech accelerator. 

It mirrors the launch of ‘BraveTech EU’ in July, which involves Ukraine and the EU partnering to deliver joint projects, hackathons, rapid testing, and direct collaboration efforts. 

UNITE’s first competition, which has been announced by the NATO Communications and Information Agency, seeks “new innovative products” in the fields of “joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance innovation and counter-UAS”. 

Examples of specific technologies include aerial systems advancements related to autonomous airborne recognition and the detection and classification of electronic and signals intelligence.  

It is open to teams from Ukraine and NATO member state companies, which can win joint grants totalling EUR10 million.  

Submissions of interest are expected to open “in the near future”. Brave1 had not responded to DSEI Gateway’s request for a specific date at the time of publication. 

The notice states that the bid submission window is anticipated to be open between 9 February and 30 April 2026, with contracts awarded on 29 May. 

The winners are expected to be announced at the NATO-Ukraine Defence Innovators Forum in the spring. 

Going forward, both partners have declared their ambition to scale the programme further in 2026, with EUR50 million in funding, half-financed through the Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine and matched by Ukraine, the statement says. 

It goes on to say that future activities will include counter-UAS systems, signals intelligence, robust navigation in contested electromagnetic environments, and uncrewed ground vehicles. 

Praising the joint programme, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, said that “we are building a more resilient, adaptive, and technologically advanced defence architecture for the entire Euro-Atlantic community”.