NATO and Ukraine have launched a new joint defence-innovation programme, dubbed “UNITE – Brave NATO”, designed to funnel cutting-edge technology rapidly from concept labs into frontline use.
The initiative was unveiled this week and represents the Alliance and Kyiv’s first-of-its-kind effort to systematically scale up battle-ready prototypes. The idea is straightforward: encourage Western and Ukrainian companies to pair up and develop systems that meet NATO’s interoperability standards, then push successful prototypes into deployment.
On Ukraine’s side, the work will be coordinated through the defence-tech cluster Brave1; on NATO’s side, the implementation will be handled by NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA).
The first competition under UNITE – Brave NATO will focus on bringing frontline technologies to counter unmanned aerial systems (c-UAS), bolster air defence, and secure frontline communications. Later rounds may expand into signals-intelligence, resilient navigation in contested electromagnetic environments, and unmanned ground systems.
According to a NATO document, a request for proposals is scheduled to be released on 9 February 2026, with an expected closing date of 30 April 2026 and contract awards anticipated by 29 May 2026.
To get the programme moving, NATO and Ukraine have set up a €10 million pool of innovation grants, with each side matching funding to reach that ceiling. NATO is providing its contribution through the Alliance’s Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine, while Kyiv is channelling its share via the Ministry of Digital Transformation. Companies will soon be invited to register interest, ahead of submitting formal joint bids in February 2026.
If the pilot proves successful, the partners are ready to scale up, with plans to expand funding to as much as €50 million in 2026. That signals ambition beyond a one-off effort: UNITE – Brave NATO looks intended as a sustained initiative for channeling innovation from labs into Ukraine’s war effort and NATO’s broader defence posture.
First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, said: “We do appreciate that NATO is fostering this brand new partnership with Ukraine in the field of innovations. This cooperation will accelerate the development of cutting-edge defence technologies and strengthen interoperability. Together, we are building a more resilient, adaptive, and technologically advanced defence architecture for the entire Euro-Atlantic community.”
For Kyiv, the programme offers a chance to accelerate the delivery of urgently needed capabilities, especially counter-drone, comms resilience, SIGINT, and battlefield autonomy. For NATO, it represents a rare opportunity to embed real-world feedback from an ongoing war into its future-capability pipeline. In effect, UNITE – Brave NATO could become a template for how alliances co-develop and co-field emerging technology under pressure.
