UNITE-Brave NATO Initial Funding

NATO's Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) is administering a €10 million joint innovation competition with Ukraine to accelerate the development and deployment of battlefield-tested defense technologies that meet NATO interoperability standards. The initial pilot funding, split equally between NATO's Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine and Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation, will support joint teams of Ukrainian and NATO-member companies competing to advance counter-unmanned aerial systems, air defense capabilities, and secure frontline communications solutions. This represents a strategic shift to integrate Ukrainian defense innovations into NATO's collective defense architecture while NATO learns real-time lessons from ongoing battlefield conditions.