The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) is seeking to award a number of innovation contracts to NATO companies to strengthen the integration with the Ukraine BRAVE  intergovernmental defence innovation platform.

Ukraine seeks to match NATO funding to solicit proposals from Ukrainian companies that would then work together with vendors from participating nations. Only joint proposals provided together by Allied and Ukrainian companies will be accepted for this competition. For the Notification of Procurement Opportunity, companies may register interest without having pre-identified their partner from the corresponding geography, with the intention of finalising a joint proposal together during the solicitation period.

UNITE BRAVE NATO will fund innovation competitions that correspond to Ukraine’s interoperability requirements and/or Ukrainian capability gap priorities communicated to NATO. By matching these requirements to innovation priorities provided by Ukraine, UNITE BRAVE NATO competitions will help fund technological breakthroughs that meet urgent operational needs and accelerate a learn-by-doing approach to the Alliance’s rapid adoption efforts.

This first UNITE BRAVE NATO competition will focus on joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) innovation and counter-UAS capabilities. Example topics in these areas include aerial systems advancements related to autonomous airborne recognition and SIGINT/ELINT detection and classification. The exact topics will be communicated at the solicitation stage.

The NCIA anticipates organizing the following engagement activities: 1) Industry Day: January/February 2026/Poland or Romania and 2) Pre-Bid Conference: February 2026/Virtual.