The relationship between primes and SMEs is more nuanced than the narrative suggests

One of the sharpest points of the session was a direct challenge to the common framing that primes are the problem and SMEs are the solution. Sir Stuart Atha was clear that this is a trap. The reality is more nuanced and the current moment presents a genuine opportunity to build collaboration between innovators and established defence industry players rather than positioning them in opposition.

NIAG’s role is central to this. The group represents and coordinates the interests of UK industry within NATO’s armaments and capability-planning ecosystem and is actively working to create dynamics within industry that encourage the sharing of information and the building of productive relationships between companies of different scales.

NATO DIANA cohort areas align directly with Allied capability gaps

The alignment between NATO DIANA’s focus areas and the capability gaps identified across the Alliance is not coincidental. The programme has been designed to connect innovation to real operational need, and companies within it are closer to the demand signal than they may realise.

DIANA-backed companies are not speculative innovators looking for a market. They are developing technologies that respond to identified requirements and the institutional mechanisms to connect them with end users are improving.

Technology has overtaken doctrine

A recurring theme was the inversion of a long-standing dynamic. In 2003, during operations in Afghanistan, the challenge was that technology lagged the concepts and doctrines that demanded it. Today, the opposite is true. Innovation has outpaced the institutional frameworks, procurement processes and operational concepts designed to adopt it.

This creates a structural challenge. The gap is no longer about whether the technology exists, but about whether the systems, processes and cultures within defence can move quickly enough to integrate it. Sir Stuart framed this as an inflection point, one that requires institutional answers, not just technological ones.

The route to adoption remains fundamentally human

While institutional pathways, procurement mechanisms and formal processes are all important, Sir Stuart emphasised that the breakthrough moment in defence adoption is still person-to-person. Getting in front of the individual who owns the operational problem and demonstrating relevance to their specific need, is what moves things forward.

Communications across NATO have improved dramatically, and mechanisms like the DIANA adoption team and cross-government innovation channels through UK Defence Innovation (UKDI) are creating structured routes for this to happen. But the onus remains on companies to be visible, credible and easy to engage with.

NATO is building a single front door for business

One of the most significant developments discussed was NATO’s ambition to create a single front door for doing business with the Alliance. This includes a mechanism by which companies that have already won a competition in one nation could engage with others without repeating the full procurement process, reducing duplication and accelerating adoption.

The UK has not yet adopted this universal competition framework, but the direction of travel across the Alliance is clear. For companies operating in or entering the defence market, understanding and tracking these structural shifts is essential.

Practical pathways explored

Alongside the strategic discussion, the session explored practical engagement pathways for attendees at different stages of their defence market journey:

• Defence market entry and navigation support: for companies earlier in their engagement with defence, understanding how to position themselves, where the entry points are and what credibility looks like in this context.
• Advanced pathways for experienced defence players: for companies already operating in the sector, deepening their engagement across NATO and Allied markets.
• Post-accelerator pathways: for DIANA alumni, understanding the routes available after the programme ends and how to sustain momentum.

Four areas that define NATO’s approach

Sir Stuart outlined the four areas of interest that structure NATO’s engagement with industry and innovation:

1. Research and Technology
2. Capability Development
3. Acquisition
4. Operations

Critically, the ability to link these areas together has improved significantly. The Conference of National Armaments Directors now has a four-star general embedded in Whitehall to address the challenges industry faces, and the relationship between NIAG, DIANA and the wider industrial ecosystem is increasingly integrated.

The NSPA (NATO Support and Procurement Agency) was highlighted as an important but often overlooked element. Understanding how to do business with NSPA, not just what to sell, is a practical gap that companies should address.

Looking ahead

Sir Stuart closed by being direct about the challenge: encouraging collaboration between innovators and defence forces is inherently complex. But the appetite, the architecture and the institutional will to solve it are building. NIAG is actively working to set up dynamics within industry that enable the sharing of information and the building of productive relationships. Organisations like NATO DIANA, UKDI and Janus sit at the heart of that industrial ecosystem.

We extend our thanks to Sir Stuart and the UK NIAG for such a valuable and practical session.