A NATO plan aims to deploy innovative military technologies in less than 24 months. Start-ups, governments, and investors are being called upon to cooperate.

In response to the rapid pace of military innovation in Ukraine, NATO presented a Rapid Adoption Plan in The Hague aimed at integrating emerging technologies into European armed forces in less than two years. The program combines field testing, targeted funding, and reduction of administrative barriers. At the same time, European defense start-ups raised $5.2 billion in 2024, an increase of 24% in one year. This momentum demonstrates a strong political will to bring technology, security, and industrial sovereignty closer together. But to succeed, governments will have to turn promises into action, and investors will have to move away from their traditional sectoral approach to meet concrete operational needs.

A realization imposed by war

Since 2022, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has accelerated the integration of civilian technologies for military use. Modified civilian drones, open-source targeting software, and limited-production jamming devices: innovation no longer comes solely from large arms manufacturers. Agile start-ups capable of rapid production have become operational players.

For NATO leaders, this requires a complete overhaul of the defense innovation cycle, which has historically been long, compartmentalized, and centered on large industrial companies. The Hague summit in July 2025 therefore set a new course. Member states announced their commitment to reach 5% of GDP in defense, security, and resilience spending (including 3.5% for direct military spending), which represents a major change in scale.

But without a mechanism for rapid technological integration, this budget increase risks fueling the sector’s historical sluggishness. This is the purpose of the Rapid Take-Up Plan: to directly connect technological innovators and military users through short cycles, field testing, and transnational coordination.

A rapidly growing venture capital market

European defense tech funding is following suit. In 2024, start-ups in the defense, security, and resilience sectors attracted $5.2 billion in venture capital, up from less than $2 billion in 2021. This represents 10% of all tech fundraising in Europe, with continuous growth over the past three years.

The example of Tekever, a Portuguese drone company, is symbolic. After 10,000 hours of operational flight time in Ukraine, it has reached a valuation of $1 billion and opened a second production site in the United Kingdom. Its success shows that dual-use technologies—civilian and military—can scale up if capital, production, and market opportunities are available.

However, many start-ups remain hampered by overly rigid public procurement processes, difficulty in securing initial contracts, or a lack of access to post-seed financing (growth capital, debt, stock market). To build a robust ecosystem, governments will need to take action on both tendering and industrialization conditions.

A NATO plan to speed up industrialization

The NATO Rapid Technology Adoption Plan is based on several concrete mechanisms. Its central objective is to reduce to less than 24 months the time between the identification of a technological solution and its operational integration. It also sets an intermediate stage of field testing within one year.

To achieve this, the alliance is developing a network of test centers called “innovation ranges”, where selected companies can validate their products. Approved projects receive a “NATO innovation badge”, official recognition of their military relevance.

A simplified contractual framework, called Task Force X, will enable these young companies to collaborate directly with deployed units, without going through the usual cumbersome procedures. NATO is also encouraging member countries to pool their market research to avoid fragmentation and accelerate the dissemination of innovations among allies.

Finally, countries are committing to better express their priority capability requirements, drawing inspiration from the US model of the National Defense Authorization Act. The aim is to provide innovators with clear signals to guide their research, via a centralized “gateway” to defense procurement markets.

Mobilization still too uneven

While momentum is building at the alliance level, the actual commitment of individual countries remains highly variable. Germany has announced a defense budget increase to €162 billion by 2029, along with an effort to shorten contract terms to 60 days. France and Italy are relying more on their existing industrial champions, while the Baltic countries, Poland, and the Netherlands are stepping up collaboration with their national start-ups.

The European Union is also planning a program called Readiness 2030, with a budget of €150 billion to support the industrial base, notably through guaranteed loans. But the effectiveness of this policy will depend on real coordination between national and European programs, which are still often competing with each other.

The other obstacle remains the lack of specialized growth funds. Institutional investors, who remain cautious about the defense sector, must be encouraged to commit through dedicated tools (sectoral growth funds, public-private co-investment mechanisms, long-term guarantees).

An industrial opportunity to be structured

Behind the announcements, the objective is clear: to make defense innovation a European economic and strategic pillar. This implies better structuring of industrial sectors, supporting the rapid industrialization of prototypes, and building a common armaments market where orders are grouped together.

Areas such as military artificial intelligence, autonomous robotics, tactical cybersecurity and quantum detection technologies require heavy investment, strategic support and a reliable testing ecosystem. Without this, Europe will remain dependent on American or Israeli solutions, as is still the case for armed drones and ISR processing software.

The Rapid Adoption Plan creates a framework. But success will depend on aligning expressed military needs, available innovation capabilities, and industrial ramp-up capacity. This requires moving away from a purely bureaucratic mindset and adopting a results-driven approach.

A possible strategy, but not a foregone conclusion

The initiative launched by NATO could be a strategic turning point for Europe, provided that three pitfalls are avoided: the isolation of start-ups, administrative delays, and a lack of cross-border coordination.

It will be necessary to guarantee concrete access to public procurement for young companies, mobilize large groups as integrators rather than barriers to entry, and simplify intermediary financing tools.

Ultimately, the challenge is as much political as it is technical: building a European defense technology industry capable of responding quickly, on a large scale, and in a collective manner. This project requires firm decisions and aligned resources. Without this, the ambition of technological sovereignty will remain a statement of principle.

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