In a few months, the bloc’s Responsive Electronic Attack for Cooperative Tasks (REACT) effort will begin its second phase, company officials told Defense News. The consortium, which includes European sensor makers Hensoldt, Elettronica and Saab, was selected in June to receive tens of millions of euros in funds from the European Defence Fund (EDF) for the work.

The REACT program is intended to develop a system capable of jamming any signals used for targeting European aircraft while being able to disable adversary electronic-warfare emitters, according to a European Defence Fund fact sheet. As European forces are facing increasingly sophisticated long-range, integrated air defense systems, airborne electronic attack (AEA) capabilities become “essential to create safe bubbles around formations of aircraft,” said Pablo González, director for NATO and European defense and space programs at Indra.

Going forward, Indra has progress and lessons from the initiative’s first phase to build on, González wrote in a Sept. 7 email to Defense News. The company and its consortium was awarded a grant for REACT I in 2019 under the EDF’s predecessor, the European Defence Industrial Development Programme. The project is linked to a similar Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) initiative focused on airborne electronic attack, a connection that translates into extra subsidies from Brussels.

Indra is also one of three prime contractors on the trinational Future Combat Air System (FCAS) program, representing Spanish industry as well as serving as lead contractor for the program’s sensors portfolio. Indra did not respond to questions regarding any commonality between the work on REACT and its work on FCAS by this article’s publication.

The FCAS program – which also includes France and Germany – launched its Phase 1B technological demonstration phase in December 2022, which will go on until 2029 when a prototype demonstrator is expected to see the light of day. Indra is slated to receive €600 million ($640 million) for its work during Phase 1B, the company previously shared.

During REACT I, the industry partners developed operational scenarios and studied the potential threats a new AEA system may need to face in the next 15-20 years, said Raúl Pajarín, director of airborne platforms systems at Indra. Those efforts generated an architecture, specification and preliminary design of the AEA capabilities, he told Defense News.

Indra expects that REACT II will officially start at the end of 2023, once the grant agreement is signed with the European Commission, per Pajarín. The main milestone to achieve is the demonstration of the AEA capabilities by way of testing of different prototypes generated during the project.

“In the meantime, the industrial consortium is planning all the activities and resources needed for the future execution of the project,” he said.

In addition to covering the swath of capabilities set out in the EDF report, the consortium hopes to develop a modular, reconfigurable architecture-based system, Pajarín noted. During REACT II, the plan is also to consolidate a European-wide definition and digitalization of electronic attack missions, and to set a base scenario for coordinating the missions between different assets and nations, he said.

The program is expected to take four years and cost around €69.7 million, including a maximum of €40 million in EU contributions. It will encompass studies, design, prototyping, testing, and qualification of the new capability. The international program management group Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) will manage the program on behalf of the participating nations.

REACT II is financed through the European Defence Fund along with the ministries of defense of Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and Poland, González said. Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands, and Poland are also providing industrial participation and support.

The following companies are participating in the REACT II project:

From Spain: Indra, the Technical University of Madrid, AXTER Aerospace, Spika Tech, and Gaerum Engineering; from Italy: Elettronica, the National Laboratory of Radar and Surveillance Systems and Systems and Energy Technologies (SENTECH); from Germany: Hensoldt; from Sweden: Saab and the KTH Royal Institute of Technology; from France: Thales; from Poland: the Warsaw University of Technology and XY Sensing; from Bulgaria: Bianor Software and IT Services; from the Netherlands: the Royal Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR); from Estonia: Rantelon and CAFA Tech Robotics; from Lithuania: the Baltic Institute of Advanced Technology; and from Finland: DA-Group.

KNDS, a Amsterdam-based joint venture between Krauss-Maffei Wegmann and Nexter, signed a cooperation agreement with the Israeli company at the DSEI exhibition this week in London to begin the joint manufacturing of the EuroPULS rocket artillery system.

Based on the existing PULS artillery rocket produced by Elbit, the new kit will integrate the capabilities of KNDS, such as its modular fire control system, to offer a Europeanized version to countries in the region.

An Elbit spokesperson confirmed to Defense News that the production of the EuroPULS will be carried out in Germany. The open concept of the system does not exclude the usage of missiles from other companies and that KNDS would be acting as the lead system integrator in this program, it said in a statement.

Germany has said it wants to replace its MARS 2 systems, a number of which have been provided to Ukraine and the rest of which are rapidly aging.

When asked whether Elbit could eventually put in a bid for the EuroPULS to act as a replacement for the German artillery systems, the Israeli company declined to answer.

Germany has yes to initiate a replacement program for MARS 2, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense told Defense News on Sept. 14, without providing a timeline for when the Bundeswehr might act.

Lockheed and Rheinmetall have paired up to offer a European-made rocket launcher based on Lockheed’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) system to Berlin. The companies signed a memorandum of understanding to build such a system in April.

G for Germany

The “GMARS” system — with the “G” denoting Germany — would feature a Rheinmetall-built chassis nearly twice as long as that of the HIMARS system, with Lockheed’s launcher loader component integrated onto the truck, and featuring two rocket pods for double loadout capacity.

The chassis would be built in Rheinmetall’s Vienna facilities, and overall integration of the system would be performed in Germany, with some components acquired from the U.S. via combined foreign military sales and direct commercial sales, officials told Defense News in June during the 2023 Paris Air Show.

Were Germany to select the GMARS system, Lockheed and Rheinmetall could have the initial vehicles delivered for testing and acceptance by 2025. A Lockheed official confirmed then that the companies are in conversations with Berlin regarding the replacement of the MARS 2.

As of Sept. 14, Germany has sent five MARS 2 systems and associated ammunition to Ukraine, according to a running report published by the Ministry of Defense.

The program’s prime contractor and lead system integrator successfully demonstrated this final component of its system for the MMCM program, dubbed SLAM-F in France.

The sea trials took place remotely from the company’s command center in Brest, France, alongside representatives of the French Navy, the French defense procurement agency DGA, the British Royal Navy and the U.K. Defence Ministry, as well as the Organisation for Joint Armament Co-operation, according to a Thales news release. OCCAR is an international weapons management group.

The Thales operations center controlled the systems with the support of French Navy personnel.

The trials, which were “recently” held, demonstrated the ability of Thales’ M-Cube mission management system to relocate and identify mines at sea, after which the underwater drone successfully installed exercise charges on a bottom mine and a moored mine; the latter are deployed when the water is too deep for bottom mines.

France and Britain first launched the MMCM program in 2015 with a contract signing between Thales and OCCAR, intending to demonstrate and qualify a novel, fully integrated, unmanned mine countermeasures system of systems. The goal is for MMCM to replace all current mine warfare platforms, including Tripartite-class mine hunters, sonar towing vessels and diver support vessels.

Per the French Armed Forces Ministry, one MMCM system architecture comprises two surface drones — one of which is equipped with a towed sonar and the other with a remotely operated robot — and two underwater drones responsible for detecting, classifying and localizing the mines. The remotely operated robot makes it possible to identify and neutralize mines.

Thales serves as the overall project manager of the system as well as the sonar manufacturer, while ECA Group — which now operates as Exail — developed the underwater drones.

Those drones will be capable of recognizing submerged objects with very high resolution thanks to Thales’ “multi-aspect sonar,” the ministry previously said.

The sonar can take images from three different angles in one pass, allowing the operator to more easily and quickly characterize an object.

The MMCM system will also be able to detect, identify and neutralize mines up to 300 meters (984 feet) deep, compared to 120 meters (394 feet) today, the ministry has said.

The first two prototype MMCM systems were delivered to the French and British navies in 2021 and 2022, according to Thales. The two services will take delivery of the six series-produced systems in 2024 and 2025, for a total of eight systems split between the two nations.

At the 2022 Euronaval conference held outside of Paris, French military officials announced the MMCM program will align itself with a separate Belgian-Dutch de-mining program meant to deliver new mine hunter vessels and unmanned systems, dubbed the Belgian-Dutch Mine Countermeasures system.

U.S. airmen and officials stood ready to perform and observe the demonstration of a novel, mobile satellite launch and recovery package for the American drone, opening up a host of new land-based sites from which the Reaper could operation in inclement weather.

The proof of concept — which ultimately succeeded and involved U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, Air Combat Command, and the 435th Contingency Response Group assigned to Ramstein Air Base in Germany — took place at the Polish Air Force’s 12th Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Base outside of Mirosławiec.

Should an MQ-9 need to land there, a handful of maintainers qualified to service Reapers would need only to hop on a commercial flight with the clothes on their back, as all the necessary gear will already be in place.

The base is now “open for business” and ready to welcome any MQ-9A that needs to land there for basic maintenance, said Air Force Maj. Philip “Flip” West, the project lead for the satellite launch and recovery package, or SLR-P, for U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa.

West, a former Reaper pilot, envisioned the package as including the absolute minimum equipment maintainers would need to service an MQ-9A on any base in the world, contained in two conex boxes. The SLR-P includes the Portable Aircraft Control Station developed by MQ-9 manufacturer General Atomics, a starter cart, an electric towbarless aircraft tractor to transport the aircraft into a hangar, and refueling capabilities.

The event last month sought to demonstrate that a handful of maintainers could turn on the aircraft and hand control over to drone operators with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard, using only the equipment contained in the SLR-P, after which the Reaper would then take off and perform a routine sortie.

A thunderstorm had settled over Eastern Europe during the Aug. 30 proof of concept, grounding the aircraft until the following day. Nonetheless, the SLR-P operated as intended, with maintainers using the Portable Aircraft Control Station to get the MQ-9 up and running before handing over control to operators in Pennsylvania, West said.

This wasn’t the only “first” to take place on the Polish base for that Reaper; its landing at the 12th UAV Base prior to the proof of concept was the first weather diversion for the drone to a previously unrecorded runway in Europe. Now, that MQ-9 has mapped the entire runway, allowed any U.S. Air Force Reaper to access the file for easy landing in Mirosławiec.

“This was a huge deal for us,” West said. “Instead of canceling, we diverted the aircraft to the alternate airfield and proved that it can be done [in the] real world, not in a training environment.”

U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa unilaterally acquired the Portable Aircraft Control Station in February, a move that caused consternation at Air Combat Command, a representative told Defense News at Mirosławiec, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the individual was not authorized to speak to the media on behalf of the military.

For West, the need to move quickly to develop the SLR-P — and thus directly procure Portable Aircraft Control Stations — was justified. “The events of last year were the driving factor behind the need for us to move faster than the rest of the MQ-9 community,” he said, referring to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022.

“When I acquired our own PACS, we were the first air component to own and control our own equipment, which means we can do with it what we want and how we want to do it,” West said. “We maintained our relationship with ACC by following the exact same regulations and maintenance rules that they follow, and we are open with its maintenance so ACC can still observe what we are doing. But overall, it is USAFE-AFAFRICA-owned and -controlled.”

A greater presence

The MQ-9 is a critical asset for U.S. troops in Europe. Starting in 2021, the Defense Department began operating more Reapers on the continent as it deployed fewer personnel. The Russian invasion last year placed a renewed emphasis on the aircraft’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.

The drone type currently operates out of two sites in Europe: Larissa Air Base in Greece and 71st Air Base at the Campia Turzii airfield in Romania.

The Reaper regularly patrols NATO’s eastern front and performs maritime surveillance in the Black and Baltic seas. In March, two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted an MQ-9 over the Black Sea, striking a propeller and causing operators to down the aircraft in the waters below.

As demand grows for its services, U.S. Air Forces in Europe wants to stand up “designated alternate” bases where Reapers land if inclement weather prevents them from returning to home base, or to refuel the drones closer to the front line. That’s where the SLR-P comes in, said West.

“Our northern launch location experiences adverse weather on average 52% of the time during the winter months, based on historical weather data from the last 10 years,” he told Defense News.

While the launch site might not experience poor weather every winter, unpredictability has already led to the cancellation of sorties when the MQ-9 can’t return to its home base. However, the SLR-P allows Reapers to operate out of alternate airfields “in the event we foresee adverse weather that is inbound to the airfield,” West explained.

For now, he said, the SLR-P is equipped for maintainers to only perform what’s known as “code 1″ maintenance, such as refueling; anything more complex, such as a flat tire or an engine failure, would require transporting the aircraft to its home base.

To date, Poland is the only partner to have formally agreed to host an SLR-P system. For now, the two conex boxes used in the demonstration will remain on the base until the system is needed.

Hosting the proof of concept at the 12th UAV Base underscored “the Polish commitment to not only Polish sovereignty, but also to fulfilling its obligation as a key member of the NATO alliance,” said Polish Air Force Col. Marcin Szubiński, the base’s commander.

For the past five years, the Mirosławiec base has been at “the forefront” of implementing cutting-edge intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance technologies that focus on interoperability with NATO allies, Szubiński told Defense News.

West hopes to eventually set up similar “designated alternate” bases in the Arctic Circle, the Baltics, the Mediterranean Sea and Africa. Conversations are ongoing with NATO allies and partners who might become future hosts, he said, emphasizing cost savings from using an SLR-P. West declined to identify those potential hosts.

“With this version, it cost a little more than $400,000; whereas a single, one-way flight on a [military jet] could cost around [$500‚000] to $550,000,” he said.

Putting the ‘A’ in ‘ACE’

According to the Air Combat Command representative present at the proof of concept, it can take 90-120 days to move an MQ-9 force package that includes personnel, equipment and other required support for a launch operation. It can require up to eight aircraft — compared to the SLR-P, which can fit in one C-17 transport plane — and up to two dozen maintainers.

The representative described U.S. Air Forces in Europe as “ahead of the power curve” in its efforts to implement the service’s Agile Combat Employment doctrine. ACE, which Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown kicked off in 2022, calls for the the development of “multi-capable Airmen” qualified to perform a wider swath of duties “to minimize equipment and personnel footprints to increase dispersal capabilities and complicate adversary targeting.”

“With ACE, we’re going to have to get used to the idea of sending out a smaller group of people … with a limited amount of equipment,” the representative told Defense News.

Indeed, the SLR-P technology demonstrated in Poland, with its slim footprint of personnel and equipment, is “putting the ‘A’ in ‘ACE,’ ” West said.

The maintainers who demonstrated the SLR-P proof of concept at Mirosławiec were not originally trained to handle MQ-9s. The 435th Contingency Response Group traditionally serviced heavy-lift aircraft at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. But since March 2022, its airmen have undergone a series of training and qualifications to provide ground support on the front line to F-16 and F-15E jets as well as MQ-9s, said the group’s commander, Air Force Col. R. Patrick Rayner.

The team also qualified in so-called hot pit refueling for fighter jets, when an aircraft lands and receives fuel without turning off the engines, Rayner said at the base. The group is now set to qualify in providing ground support to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter by October.

“Multi-capable airmen: That’s what we’ve been doing for 25 years,” Rayner said of his unit.

The SLR-P proof of concept was the first time this squadron of maintainers serviced an MQ-9 on their own, an airman with the 435th told Defense News.

The self-sustaining group is naturally suited to provide its own equipment, said the airman, who spoke on background per an agreement with the U.S. Air Force. Now, with the new package, any maintainer can “get out the door a lot quicker” and use equipment already on site, the service member added.

Following the proof of concept, the 435th provided feedback to West and his team about what else an SLR-P could include, the airman said.

And given extra room in the conex boxes, future versions could help maintainers perform more complex services, West said.

Next steps

The anticipated proliferation of “designated alternate” MQ-9 sites is poised to increase partnerships across NATO and encourage more buy-in from allies in Europe and beyond, stakeholders said at the 12th UAV Base.

In the Indo-Pacific region, for example, SLR-P could be set up at various allied bases, allowing Reapers to island hop to avoid sortie cancellations from weather issues.

In the European region, Poland previously committed to spending 3% of its gross domestic product on defense beginning in 2023 — up from 2.2% in 2021 — and doubling its troop numbers up to 300,000 personnel.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Army established the U.S. Army Garrison Poland this past March, intended to host about 10,000 permanent U.S. troops in 11 sites around Poznań and other Polish cities, as well as 4,000 rotational forces and 2,500 surge or exercise personnel.

Poland has also committed to buying new Reapers in the near term. In October 2022, the Polish Defence Ministry signed a $70.6 million deal to lease an undisclosed number of MQ-9A Reapers from General Atomics.

Additionally, the ministry unveiled plans to buy MQ-9B Reapers, which would make the Polish Armed Forces the first military along NATO’s eastern front to buy the medium-altitude, long-endurance drone. Before the deal was signed, a ministry official told Defense News the drone acquisition is related to “the difficult situation on Poland’s eastern border” with Ukraine, which is still fighting off a Russian invasion.

Polish forces are using the leased MQ-9As “in surveillance areas of interest, including along Poland’s eastern border” in order to “facilitate the collection of surveillance data within the field of imagery intelligence … and signals intelligence,” a spokesperson for the ministry told Defense News last month.

Meanwhile, Poland is advancing talks with General Atomics. “Currently, there are ongoing negotiations with the supplier of this weaponry. In line with the Technical Modernization Plan [for the Polish Armed Forces], the MQ-9B Reaper acquisition is planned for the year 2024,” the spokesperson said.

Once that acquisition is complete, the 12th UAV Base will be ready to support the new Reapers with lessons learned from hosting the U.S. Air Force’s 52nd Expeditionary Operations Group Detachment 2 and its MQ-9 fleet for the past several years.

The base became familiar with some support functions such as fueling, fire protection and pre-accident planning, said Szubiński, the base’s commander.

“Learning to operate the aircraft and, more importantly, integrating it into combined arms of the Polish military requires some time,” he explained. “But we’ve certainly taken the first and, by some accounts, the most critical steps.”

Jaroslaw Adamowski in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

German weapons maker Rheinmetall is preparing to send its LUNA NG (next-generation) unmanned reconnaissance drone to Kyiv, the company announced Aug. 14. The system should be delivered by the end of the year, according to a spokesperson.

The LUNA NG is part of a sizable military aid package for Ukraine initiated by the German government in July. The Bundeswehr calls the system “Husar.” Per Rheinmetall, it includes a ground control station and several UAVs, as well as a launch catapult, an optional net equipment for catching the drones when they land, and equipment for rapid repair. The system is mounted on a Rheinmetall HX truck with a swap body system.

The company asserts the drone can remain aloft for over twelve hours and maintain a datalink range of up to 100 kilometers normally, and up to 300 kilometers when fitted with optional satellite communication equipment.

The Bundeswehr has operated LUNA UAV systems since the early 2000s. Those were originally developed by German manufacturer EMT Penzberg, which was acquired by Rheinmetall in 2021.

The German Ministry of Defence did not respond to questions regarding the total number of LUNA NG units procured for the Bundeswehr, nor the number of units going to Ukraine. Rheinmetall described the order value as a “low, double-digit million euro amount.”

Berlin has already delivered a number of reconnaissance drones to Ukraine, including 88 Vector drones from Quantum Systems, 20 RQ-35 Heidrun systems from Danish company Sky-Watch, and 32 unspecified reconnaissance drones, as of August 9.

Meanwhile, Ukraine will also soon receive a series of CORTEX Typhon counter-UAS systems made by Norway’s Kongsberg, after the company signed an agreement via the International Fund for Ukraine.

The delivery consists of several CORTEX Typhon systems, developed to counter a wide spectrum of UAVs with solutions to either physically harm or otherwise disable the aerial threat, Kongsberg said in an Aug. 14 press release.

The International Fund for Ukraine (IFU) is a funding mechanism run by the United Kingdom on behalf of several international partners – including the UK, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Lithuania – who together have contributed over £770 million ($977 million) to the fund to date. It was established for those partners to identify and procure critical capabilities and deliver them quickly to Ukraine.

The Kongsberg contract value is £56 million ($72 million), per the company. As part of the delivery, the Norwegian government has donated Dingo 2 armored vehicle personnel carriers, Kongsberg remote weapon systems, and additional weapons. The date of delivery, nor the number of units, was not given.

The French company announced June 20 that Greece selected its Patroller medium-altitude, long-endurance tactical drone to upgrade the Army’s unmanned fleet. The service will procure four new Patrollers, designed to carry out surveillance missions, to complement its existing Sperwer aircraft.

The Sperwer was originally produced by French company Sagem, before the firm merged with Snecma in 2005 to form Safran Group. The UAV is currently used by the French and Greek armies as well as the Swedish and Dutch air forces and the U.S. Air National Guard.

The Patroller became the first tactical drone to be officially certified to NATO’s airworthiness standard STANAG 4671, for fixed-wing drones weighing more than 150 kilograms (331 pounds), according to a company news release.

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency coordinated the negotiations with Safran on behalf of the Hellenic Army.

Defense News has contacted Safran and the Army for additional information on the contract.

The selection of Safran’s Patroller serves as an example of ever-deepening ties between France’s defense industry and Greece. However, it also puts into perspective Athens’ balancing act between recent efforts to support its local drone industry and a remaining dependency on foreign suppliers for such systems.

Asked whether opting for a foreign-made drone over a domestic one contradicted efforts to build a stronger national industry, Nikos Koklas, director of research and development at Hellenic Aerospace Industry, described the question as “valid,” but noted it’s not for industry to answer.

“The Hellenic Army assesses its needs accordingly. Archytas [Greece’s latest locally build surveillance drone] will become operational next year; perhaps the Army requested an immediate solution to its operational needs,” Koklas said.

In May, French shipbuilder Naval Group opened its new subsidiary Naval Group Hellas in Athens to support work on the Hellenic Navy’s FDI frigate program, among other maritime projects. The firm also plans to coordinate and further research and development projects in cooperation with Greek partners.

That same month, the European consortium MBDA — partly owned by French defense company Airbus — also inaugurated a new office in Athens to support its contracts with the country’s military. The Hellenic Navy and Air Force are longtime users of the company’s Exocet missile system, and the firm is supplying weapons packages for the Air Force’s Rafale aircraft as well as the Navy’s FDI frigates.

The missile systems and technology company has signed letters of intent with four European nations – France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands – to launch a concept stage for the Hypersonic Defense Interceptor Study, or HYDIS2, which would introduce several designs before choosing one, officials said June 19 during the Paris Air Show here.

The consortium includes 19 companies and 30 suppliers from 14 European countries, Bruno Verzotti, MBDA’s director of future systems, told a small group of reporters. Besides the four nations that have signed letters of intent to support HYDIS2, industry partners hail from Finland, Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Spain and Belgium.

“HYDIS2 aims to define Europe’s interceptor,” Verzotti said during the briefing. After the three-year concept study is over, the plan is for the four nations underwriting HYDIS2 to choose one counter-hypersonic interceptor concept to push forward.

The company has been at work on counter-hypersonic technology for roughly the past four years, he said. Internally to MBDA, the capability under development has been dubbed “Aquila,” the Latin word for “eagle.”

The intent is for Aquila’s development to be linked to the EU-funded Timely Warning and Interception with Space-based TheatER Surveillance (TWISTER) program, supported by the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) scheme.

Nearly one year ago, the EU announced its initial roster of 61 programs to be supported by the European Defence Fund (EDF). One of those, the EU HYDEF effort, would cover the concept phase to build a similar endo-atmospheric interceptor, led by a consortium including Spain’s Sener Aerospacial Sociedad Anonima and Germany’s Diehl Defence.

The EU HYDEF program is expected to cost about €110 million ($100.74 million) and cover a 36-month period, the EU previously shared. It is also linked to the PESCO TWISTER program.

MBDA also submitted a bid to receive EDF funds to build an interceptor in 2022 under the moniker HYDIS. While their proposal was not selected then, officials are optimistic that a second effort – with the very same industry team – might prove more effective.

Meanwhile, Israeli arms maker Rafael announced June 14 that it had developed its own hypersonic interceptor dubbed “Sky Sonic.” The weapon was unveiled for the first time at this year’s Paris Air Show and is on display at the company’s stand.

The French Defense Innovation Agency – an agency similar to the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) – signed a contract with Nexter on June 16 to build a new medium-range, remotely operated munition under the “Larinae” project, which was launched in early May. Larinae is Latin for seagull.

Nexter and its partners’ proposed solution includes an unmanned aerial system (UAS) manufactured by French vendor EOS Technologie, along with core-generating charge technology produced by Nexter, and a GPS-independent navigation system capable of operating in contested environments from startup TRAAK. It’s intended to have a range of at least 80 kilometers (nearly 50 miles) and to remain autonomous for three hours.

The French defense ministry declined to give a price tag for the project.

Nexter – which is part of the European land defense systems group KNDS alongside Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann – touted the munition’s proposed ability to “thwart” active defenses of armored vehicles before piercing their armor. It will also contain an optronic ball capable of detecting vehicles 15 kilometers away by day, three kilometers by night, and which allows operators to observe terrain from afar.

The French Armed Forces have put a premium on developing a low-cost unmanned solution that can target and neutralize an armored vehicle between 5 and 50 kilometers away. Larinae focuses on the higher end of that distance, and a second project, “Colibri” – or Hummingbird – focuses on the lower end.

Loitering munitions have received renewed attention from militaries since being used by both Azerbaijan and Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in 2020, and for their use by Ukraine in their ongoing defense against Russian forces.

France first announced an interest in procuring U.S.-built loitering munitions in 2022 as a transitional capability while the Larinae and Colibri projects move forward. This past April, U.S. unmanned systems manufacturer Aerovironment announced it had received a $64 million contract to provide its Switchblade 300 drone to the U.S. Army, and that the contract included foreign military sales for the capability to France “for the first time,” as well as to “another allied nation.” Those drones are scheduled to be delivered in 2024. Aerovironment has supplied the Switchblade 300 to the U.S. Army for over a decade.

The French government’s proposed military budget for the 2024-2030 period includes €5 billion ($5.5 billion) for unmanned systems. The budget is currently being deliberated by the French Senate, and has already been passed by the government’s lower body, the General Assembly.

The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, or DIANA, will open up applications for its first set of challenges on June 19, when companies can compete for hundreds of thousands of euros in grant funds.

The hope is to have those selected startups “up and running” with grant support by the end of 2023, said Deeph Chana, DIANA’s managing director.

The technology challenges — in reflecting DIANA’s primary mission — are meant to support innovative startups and small businesses that are focusing on dual-use science and technology solutions that could help with critical defense issues, Chana recently told reporters in a virtual briefing.

“We want to attract these innovators to the problems that we have in security and defense, but also we want to look at how these [security and defense] problems are set in a much broader context,” he said. “When we talk about defense, what we’re thinking about is how science and technology can help us, for example, to lower the chances of conflict erupting, as well as having the kind of tools and systems that we need to be able to resolve conflict in more efficient and effective manners in the future.”

What are the challenges?

The initial set of challenges will focus on energy resilience and energy systems; the secure transfer of information and data; and sensing and surveillance capabilities.

For the first challenge area, DIANA is interested in solutions that help supply energy in a more agile, innovative way, and also how to secure the networks and infrastructure of energy systems, Chana said.

The second area pertains to ensuring “communications between different points are actually secure,” he added. “In some cases, one of the things we’re really interested in there is — in situations where you don’t have a lot of energy, or you don’t have any bandwidth, or you have difficult comms — how can you still do that security problem and keep those lines of communication secure.”

The sensing and surveillance challenge has to do with building “next-generation detectors, and systems of detectors and sensors, to effectively give us an ability to inspect difficult environments,” he said. Specifically, DIANA is interested in the challenge of underwater detection and sensing capabilities, he added.

NATO expects about 30 startups to participate in the first set of challenges. Those who make it through the first phase will each receive €100,000 (about U.S. $108,000) in grants, and those who succeed in making it to the second phase will each receive €300,000 (about U.S. $324,000) in grant money for a six-month period, Chana said.

A panel will evaluate participants. The panel includes investors, subject matter experts in the challenge areas, members of academia and representatives of the end-user community, he added.

This year’s round of challenges will take place at five DIANA accelerator sites on both sides of the Atlantic, according to NATO. Future challenges will take place at other accelerator locations around the alliance’s member nations, and eventually expand to include a greater number of startup participants.

NATO touted that benefits for those selected include the fact that DIANA will not ask for intellectual property or equity, but rather wants to “maximize the growth opportunities for innovators without any typical restrictions.” Participating in the tech challenges will also offer exposure to a trusted investor network — in particular the nascent NATO Innovation Fund, collaboration opportunities with allied end users and pathways to 31 allied markets.

Meanwhile, DIANA itself continues to grow since it was formally established last year, and will become operational with the tech challenge launch on June 19. To date, the accelerator is based at Imperial College London in the United Kingdom, and another headquarters is planned for Halifax, Canada, Chana said. A regional hub is to open in Tallinn, Estonia. DIANA also hosts a network of almost 100 accelerator sites and test centers across the alliance.

The accelerator currently hosts about 30 staff, Chana said, with an additional 80 personnel expected to join within the next 12-18 months. That doesn’t include personnel based at the various DIANA accelerator sites within the alliance, he noted.

To start, DIANA is operating with a €50 million annual budget, Chana said, while emphasizing the organization is currently operating within a “pilot program.”

“DIANA is the first startup of DIANA,” he said. “Through the pilot process, we will be also learning and developing.”

Through regularly occurring “technology challenges” and partnerships with more than 75 associated tech clearinghouses and test centers based in Europe and in North America, DIANA’s leaders hope to find promising solutions to real-world problems, such as operating in GPS-denied environments.

The organization’s first managing director, Deeph Chana, started work in May after formerly serving as director of the Imperial College London’s Institute for Security Science and Technology and co-director of the school’s Centre for Financial Technology.

Chana spoke with Defense News about what he hopes to bring to the table for DIANA and what to expect for its initial endeavors. This interview was edited for length and clarity.

What aspects of DIANA are the most promising to realize NATO’s 2030 science and technology goals? What are the most challenging aspects?

Building DIANA is a major step toward fulfilling the NATO 2030 goals. We are creating an innovation engine to keep NATO at the forefront of technology. DIANA will work with the best talent from across the alliance to help develop dual-use technologies to solve strategic security and defense challenges.

DIANA will also work closely with the NATO Innovation Fund, a separate body which will invest €1 billion (U.S. $1.1 billion) in early-stage startups investing in emerging and disruptive technologies.

I talk a lot about us wanting to convene the triple helix of industry, government and academia; DIANA will enable us to do this. Our wider mission is to enhance resilience and build security in society, which includes addressing global systemic risks, such as climate change.

The unique aspect here, therefore, is recognizing the need for a more complete defense mission — developing and implementing disruptive technologies to mitigate the likelihood and impacts of conflict.

What do you hope to bring from your previous careers and experience to the role of managing director for DIANA? What are some specific achievements or projects you’ve worked on that will directly inform this job?

I am a physicist by training and have spent most of my career working with deep science and technology, not just on the theoretical side but also on real-world solutions. Early in my career, for example, I worked on the Blu-ray project with Philips, so I understand how to get from fundamental scientific concepts to products.

A good part of my career has also been in the U.K. government where, among other things, I ran a unit responsible for funding science and technology to mitigate national and international security threats.

So I have a deep understanding of the risks that we face in society and how science, technology and innovation are crucial to addressing them.

In the latter part of my career, I have worked in startups and academia, building and working with early-stage technology companies for over a decade, and focusing on innovation.

Being a professor at Imperial College, I have spent considerable time and effort exploring and developing models for innovation ecosystems that enable the sustained growth of technology startups. I’m looking forward to focusing this breadth of experience on the task of standing up DIANA and setting it up for success.

What are your goals for your first year as managing director? What initiatives and planned milestones have you set for DIANA as an organization?

We are making good progress in standing up DIANA, and a big milestone is reaching initial operating capability, which will happen ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July.

We are looking to support world-class innovators as they develop cutting-edge, dual-use technologies. And very soon, DIANA will be launching its pilot challenge programs for 2023. Soon after that, we will be welcoming our first cohort of startups to the accelerator program; that’s a really big milestone.

DIANA is absolutely committed to work with the best out there — innovators with great ideas that can develop them in an agile manner, enabled by us, and attract further investment in the future.

In parallel, we recently opened our first regional office in the U.K. in London. Our regional office in North America will be in Halifax, Canada, and DIANA will also have a regional hub in Tallinn, Estonia. We will leverage a network of more than 100 accelerator sites and test centers in innovation clusters across Europe and North America, and we hope that this network will continue to grow and establish itself over the coming years.

A key priority for me as managing director is to create an organization that is agile and to build a culture that attracts top talent. I want DIANA to be diverse and inclusive, as I believe that our defense, security and technology institutions need to better represent society and its makeup. Getting the organizational culture right will be critical to the long-term success of DIANA.

What is the status of the technology challenges for DIANA? Which technology areas or needs will they focus on, and how can interested entities get involved?

We are launching our pilot challenges in June, with three themes for the 2023 program: energy resilience; secure information sharing; and sensing and surveillance. You can find out more on DIANA’s website, and we have a portal there now for registering interest. The website is also where the full details of the challenges will be published and where innovators will be able to apply when the calls go live.

DIANA is looking for people who are technically exceptional and those who can connect their technology to our dual-use mission — innovators who can see their technology applied to a civilian problem over here and a more tactical military problem over there.

To be blunt, we want less of the old-school thinking about defense. I’m not going to be too keen on us encouraging people who think that the way things are working now is fine and that DIANA is just an accelerator to make the current system run faster. That is very clearly not what DIANA is about. We are about disrupting the vision of defense and enabling emerging and disruptive technologies to be brought to bear, efficiently, to this reimagined view.

What is the 2023 budget for DIANA, and how is it split up between operations, funding for challenges and so on?

I won’t go into the specifics of our funding right now, as this will be published at the right time on our website, but DIANA is well resourced, with a budget of tens of millions of euros. I’m very conscious of the fact that the grants and support that DIANA will give will be at levels that can enable innovators in a meaningful way to realize their ideas. I’m really looking forward to working with them to make that happen. We have done our market analysis, and we know what it takes to support a startup properly and competitively.

It is important to understand that the financial burn rate for companies varies greatly, depending on what technology is being developed. Hardware development is typically a more cost-intensive endeavor than purely software-based systems.