NATO DIANA UK Accelerator showcases emerging Defence technologies

NATO DIANA UK Acceleratorshowcases emerging Defence technologies Official press release 9 July 2026 Eight dual-use innovators on the NATO DIANA 2026 programme demonstrated cutting-edge capabilities to defence leaders, industry and investors at the UK Demo Day, hosted at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. LONDON, 9 JULY 2026 – Janus Allies (Janus), the UK Accelerator for NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), and appointed Delivery Partner on behalf of UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), showcased the NATO DIANA 2026 UK cohort’s technologies to strengthen Allied capability in contested electromagnetic environments. Over six months, these companies have worked alongside end users, defence and commercial mentors and delivery partners to refine their technologies against UK and Allied operational priorities. The UK Demo Day brought together senior representatives from the UK ecosystem to engage directly with these companies and explore pathways towards adoption. Strategic context: innovation, adoption and capability The UK Demo Day featured keynote contributions from senior leaders across the defence and innovation community, highlighting the importance of accelerating the development and adoption of relevant technologies. Major General Peter Rowell MBE, Chief Executive and Commandant of the Defence Academy of the UK, emphasised the importance of leadership, collaboration and integration across government, industry and academia in driving effective adoption of innovation. “Conflict is evolving at pace, and our adversaries are already adapting and fielding capability 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, NATO DIANA, outlined the role of DIANA in supporting collaboration across the Alliance to accelerate the development and adoption of dual-use technologies through the Rapid Adoption Service (RAS).  “Technology moves at pace, but defence adoption has, historically, taken years. NATO DIANA exists to close that gap. We have a proven ability to meet procurement standards through a highly competitive selection process, and 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.” Focus of the NATO DIANA 2026 UK cohort: contested electromagnetic environments The modern battlefield has extended into the invisible domain of the electromagnetic spectrum – where signals, satellite links and communications underpin every modern defence capability. This contested environment now determines operational success, with adversaries actively disrupting and exploiting it.  Tanya Suarez, Founder and CEO of IoT Tribe and Lead Partner of the Janus Allies consortium, said:  “Securing the NATO Alliance against emerging threats, including within Contested Electromagnetic Environments, 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. All the companies that completed Phase 1 of the NATO DIANA programme this month are contributing to this mission, and with the right strategic backing from UK and NATO defence stakeholders, their ultimate impact will be felt at the very forefront of our collective security.” At Demo Day, the cohort showcased, presented and demonstrated technologies spanning electronic warfare, resilient communications and advanced positioning – each developed against real operational requirements: AMA Defence (Estonia) – Advanced protective nanocoatings designed to enhance durability and survivability of autonomous systems in harsh environments. CX2 (United States) – An airborne electronic warfare platform with RF‑sensing drone and seeker payload, enabling live detection and tracking of signal emitters. FOSSA Systems (Spain) – Nanosatellite-enabled, low‑power communications through a live satellite link transmitting field data with near real‑time verification. OLEDCOMM (France) – LiFi-based connectivity enabling secure, low‑observable drone‑to‑vehicle communications without RF emissions. SDQ Solutions Canada (Canada) – Real‑time RF threat detection and quantum‑resistant GNSS anti‑spoofing, identifying and responding to jamming and spoofing scenarios. Slipstream Design (United Kingdom) – Wideband, multimodal radar processing with live adaptive RF control and digital beamforming. Tern AI (United States) – Live trial of its alternative positioning system, delivering reliable navigation without GPS in contested environments. Testnor (Norway) – GNSS ‑denied testing environments, enabling validation of systems in realistic degraded and harsh operational conditions. Strengthening UK capability and Allied collaboration Alongside the UK cohort, the UK Demo Day featured a further 21 UK-based companies participating in the NATO DIANA 2026 programme across challenge call themes including advanced communications, autonomy, data analysis, critical infrastructure, energy systems, human resilience, and space operations – reflecting the breadth of the UK’s contribution to Allied innovation. The event brought together innovators, defence stakeholders, and potential partners to move beyond awareness and into action – underpinned by NATO DIANA’s RAS, which provides a clear pathway to evaluate and transition technologies into operational use without the procurement barriers that have historically slowed adoption. Following completion of Phase 1, selected companies will have the opportunity to continue their development through the next stage of the NATO DIANA programme. This phase will focus on further technical development, experimentation and engagement with end users to explore potential pathways toward future capability integration.  James Gavin, Deputy Director of UK Defence Innovation remarked: “Two decades of experience in the defence and security industry have taught me that 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. The six-month journey of iteration and end-user engagement these eight innovators have undertaken- with a remarkable willingness to be challenged and adapt- is exactly what we need in order

NATO DIANA debuts second dual-use cohort to UK ecosystem at London launch event

NATO DIANA debuts second dual-use cohort to UK ecosystem at London launch event Official press release 5 February 2026 Eight innovators commence mission to bolster NATO’s resilience in Contested Electromagnetic Environments LONDON (5 February 2026): Janus Allies (Janus), the UK Accelerator for NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and chosen Delivery Partner for UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), has welcomed a new cohort of innovators. In 2025 NATO DIANA received a record-breaking 3,680 submissions, this latest NATO DIANA cohort emerged from a highly selective process, placing them in roughly the top 4% of applicants and among the most competitive dual-use innovators in the Alliance.  The launch event for the 2026 NATO DIANA Cohort was hosted at the Churchill War Rooms, highlighting the link between historic resilience and today’s defence innovation realities.  At the event, Lieutenant General Sir Ralph Wooddisse, KCB, CBE, MC, Commander of the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC), spoke about the innovation and adaptation needed for the warfighter. The evening then continued with remarks on building global advantage through collaboration, exports, and innovation, before concluding with John Cunningham, Director of Defence Innovation at the Ministry of Defence, on accelerating capabilities to the front lines. “Throughout my time in the Royal Air Force, I was a direct beneficiary of some of the UK’s most cutting-edge technologies, witnessing first-hand the transformative power of collaboration between technologists, academics, defence industry personnel and policymakers. The purpose of UK Defence Innovation is to place innovative solutions into the hands of the warfighter at speed and the pace at which innovation must be developed and deployed into capability is only accelerating. The opportunity for rapid improvement lies in strategically exploiting commercial technologies through a unified public-private sector approach. The NATO DIANA challenge, UKDI and UK Accelerator embody this shift, adopting a ‘fail fast’ startup mentality to test emerging capabilities at pace. The NATO DIANA programme has already generated incredible successes within the dual-use defence sector, sending a clear message of innovation, strength and agility.” John Cunningham, Director of UK Defence Innovation within the Ministry of Defence This year, Janus, the UK Accelerator is uniquely focused on solutions for Contested Electromagnetic Environments, one of the ten priority areas defined by NATO DIANA. The electromagnetic spectrum serves as an invisible frontline for adversaries to disrupt communication channels and mask emerging threats, and, in turn, represents an all-important battle for information control.  Commencing a six-month programme to rapidly integrate their technologies into the UK dual-use sector, and with talent from seven different nations across the NATO alliance, the innovators are:   Slipstream Design, United Kingdom – SME delivering secure, reconfigurable digital-RF sensing and communications for contested electromagnetic environments. CX2 Inc., United States of America– delivering spectrum dominance to the battlefield by providing AI-enabled hardware and software that characterises, disrupts and defends the electromagnetic domain in contested environments.  FOSSA Systems, Spain– delivering sovereign, multi-mission LEO satellite constellations that combine secure low-power SatCom (IoT/D2D) with space-based signals intelligence (SIGINT).  LSMedical, Estonia– a deep-tech materials science company founded to solve one of the most critical strategic vulnerabilities facing NATO and its allies: the dependence on rare earth permanent magnets.  Oledcomm, France– a deep-tech pioneer and a global leader in optical wireless communications, specialising in Li-Fi (Light Fidelity) technology.  SDQ Solutions Canada– future-proofing the next generation of global navigation: Quantum-Resistant Anti-Spoofing Solution for Assured Positioning, Navigation and Timing.  Tern AI Inc, USA – Independently Derived Positioning System (IDPS™) provides assured, live vehicle positioning in contested and degraded environments operating without GNSS, satellites, signals, infrastructure or spectrum. Testnor AS, Norway– developing a modular, dual-use platform designed to validate advanced technologies in GNSS-denied, electromagnetically contested, and extreme conditions.  “Overcoming modern adversaries demands the right technological capabilities being deployed by the right people at the right time. By aligning mission with margin, the NATO DIANA accelerator ensures that startups don’t just innovate, but scale to help us gain a competitive advantage. The programme created by NATO DIANA supports the Government’s Strategic Defence Review, with a focus on accelerating innovation, enabling faster access than traditional procurement strategies and strengthening industrial defence capabilities. At Janus, we are committed to bridging the gap between innovation and deployment, ensuring that technologies are battlefield-ready to protect our allies.” Tanya Suarez, CEO of IoT Tribe and lead of the Janus accelerator NATO DIANA has been running accelerators across Allied nations for three years, with the UK Accelerator, delivered by Janus on behalf of UDKI, launching two years ago. The fist cohort, launched in 2025, is already making headlines across the ecosystem:   Slovakia-founded RV Magnetics, which specialises in developing and manufacturing the world’s smallest passive sensors. A year on from joining the UK Accelerator, RV Magnetics has now successfully tested its flagship ‘Microwire’ technology at the National Physics Laboratory and has already secured strategic defence contracts.  AI Verse has secured €5 million in new fundingto scale its synthetic data platform for high‑performance computer vision. The round was led by Supernova Invest, with participation from CAIT, Amundi AAI4, Creazur and returning investors Innovacom and Bpifrance Digital Venture.  “This milestone is a strong signal of confidence in our technology and our team. It also builds on the momentum we’ve gained through programmes like NATO DIANA, which have helped accelerate our growth and refine our approach to defence partners. Grateful to all our investors and collaborators for believing in what we’re building.” AI Verse’s Vice President of Sales, Ilya Ostrovsky The 2026 cohort will follow the same path of real‑life deployment, testing exercises and supply‑chain integration to accelerate technology adoption across the dual‑use ecosystem and, ultimately, across NATO. In this way, the UK Accelerator delivered by Janus, on behalf of NATO DIANA and in collaboration with UKDI, is helping to support NATO’s innovation and technology strategy and the UK’s defence innovation goals. “We have a collective responsibility to strengthen our Armed Forces, defend our nations, and protect our people – that is our purpose. At NATO DIANA, we exist to turn innovation into impact, connecting government, industry and cutting-edge innovators to deliver the capabilities our warfighters need to protect themselves and others. When these partnerships

Janus welcomes NATO DIANA 2026 Programme innovators

Janus welcomes NATO DIANA 2026 Programme innovators Official press release 11 December 2025 Janus Allies, the UK dual-use technology accelerator, welcomes eight companies specialising in Contested Electromagnetic Environments for the NATO DIANA 2026 Programme LONDON (11 December 2025): Janus Allies (Janus), the UK Accelerator for NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and chosen Delivery Partner for UK Defence Innovation (UKDI), is pleased to welcome a new cohort of innovative companies into the NATO DIANA 2026 Programme. This year NATO DIANA received a record-breaking 3,680 submissions across all NATO member states for this year’s call. The 2026 NATO DIANA cohort has emerged from a highly selective process, placing them in roughly the top 4% of applicants and among the most competitive dual-use innovators in the Alliance. Bringing us eight companies coming to join us on the Janus Accelerator Programme: AMA Defence (formerly LSMedical) from Estonia Slipstream Design from the United Kingdom FOSSA Systems from Spain Tern AI Inc. from the United States of America Testnor AS from Norway Oledcomm from France SDQ Solutions Canada from Canada CX2 Inc. from the United States of America http://janusallies.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/NATO-DIANA-Innovator-Video-1.mp4#t=1 “As we enter our second year delivering the NATO DIANA programme with UKDI-DASA, we’re building on the momentum to strengthen the UK’s role in NATO priorities in line with the Strategic Defence Review. More contact with the end-user and better interoperability for adoption at pace.We are welcoming a new cohort with technologies that address the contested electromagnetic environments that can deny, degrade and disrupt operations. They are absolutely critical to maintaining operational advantage for the UK and NATO allies. These innovators shape capabilities that matter, and our goal remains clear: ensure the UK leads in defence innovation, while reinforcing allied technological sovereignty.” Tanya Suarez, Founder and CEO of IoT Tribe, lead of Janus consortium welcomes the new Janus cohort Over the next six months, they’ll work closely with our team and partners to support the scaling of their solutions and accelerate adoption across the Alliance. The Janus programme offers a mix of in-person and virtual training: workshops, lectures, mentorship, and guidance aimed to support their dual-use strategies “The UK NATO DIANA programme is built around defence and tailored to innovators of this calibre, providing best-in-class support to build on their existing strengths. Over six months they will sharpen their approach through wargaming, operational exercises and direct engagement with end-users and decision makers, strengthening their ability to enter defence markets, secure adoption and navigate procurement pathways. A transatlantic group of entrepreneurs, academics and defence specialists will help them refine their approach to defence and adopt industry-leading, mission-ready ways of working.” James Murray, Accelerator Manager at Janus, from the SETSquared Partnership “Our role is to back innovators and help them transition from early-stage concepts to investment-ready companies. By building dual-use technologies and leveraging our curated peer-to-peer investor network, we create confidence and unlock scale – strengthening NATO interoperability, hardening supply chains and delivering long-term security with tangible commercial returns.” Sami Moughrabie, General Partner, Atmos Ventures By working with experts from defence innovation ecosystems in the UK and the wider NATO alliance, the 2026 cohort will be prepared for defence procurement while broadening their commercial opportunities. The strongest dual-use ventures learn to align mission and margin, and the London site is set up to help them do exactly that. “We are delighted to welcome another cohort of innovators to the UK Accelerator, and are excited to see how their innovative technologies could help shape the future of defence. The UKDI-DASA partnership with NATO DIANA and the delivery of the UK Accelerator programme, is key to unlocking the potential of dual-use technologies to solve critical defence challenges and create solutions that strengthen security across the Alliance and we look forward to supporting these innovators in their innovation journey.” Anita Friend, Deputy Director UKDI — More about the NATO DIANA 2026 Innovators All the companies selected starting in January 2026, will receive contractual funding and gain access to DIANA’s expanding network of 16 accelerator sites and more than 200 test centres across the 32 NATO nations. They will be working on solutions across 10 areas drawn from key priorities identified by Allies: Energy and Power Advanced Communication Technologies Contested Electromagnetic Environments Human Resilience and Biotechnologies Critical Infrastructure and Logistics Operations in Extreme Environments Maritime Operations Resilient Space Operations Autonomy and Unmanned Systems Data Assisted Decision Making   More information about the companies can be found at 2026 Cohort of Companies For any questions on Janus’ announcement, media or guidelines, please contact janus@iottribe.org More about NATO DIANA  NATO DIANA finds and accelerates cutting-edge technologies to deliver battle-winning defence and security solutions for the Alliance, while fostering deep-tech innovation. As a cornerstone of NATO’s innovation and technology strategy, DIANA brings together world-class talent and the latest advancements to maintain the Alliance’s technological edge. Leveraging a network of leading accelerator sites, test centres, expert mentors, and Allied expertise across 32 nations, DIANA empowers innovators working at the intersection of defence readiness, commercial potential, and technological breakthroughs.  About Janus Named after the Roman god of duality to reflect its approach to support dual-use applications, the Janus consortium is a four-partner, delivery-ready consortium with skills and expertise across business support and growth, science and technology, defence and security and deeptech investment. Led by the Defence and Security Accelerator, part of UK Defence Innovation (UKDI-DASA), Janus is a consortium in partnership with IoT Tribe, a specialist deeptech accelerator ecosystem; Atmos Ventures, a trans-Atlantic deeptech and defence investor; and the SETsquared Partnership, a dynamic collaboration between six leading research-led UK universities. We aim to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of NATO’s defence industrial base and expand the range of innovative capabilities available for acquisition and deployment by civilian, defence and security customers in the UK and internationally by strengthening the pipeline of talent and new, innovative companies operating in the defence and security markets. Share on social media LinkedIn Email WhatsApp Read more Engaging the Allied defence market with UK NIAG NATO DIANA alumni, RVmagnetics, develop new tech with Airbus Navigating