Ukraine War Reshapes NATO’s Defence Technology Priorities

Latvian Ministry of Defence

Drone technology on display at the “Drone Summit 2026” testing and demonstration event at the NATO Innovation Range in Latvia.

The war in Ukraine is reshaping NATO’s defence technology priorities, with counter-drone systems and space-based surveillance emerging as some of the alliance’s most urgent capability gaps, the head of the NATO Innovation Fund told Reuters.

The €1 billion ($1.12 billion) fund, backed by 24 NATO member states, is expanding into Poland and seeking direct investment opportunities to accelerate the development of dual-use technologies on the alliance’s eastern flank.

"We have seen drone incursions into countries here to an extent that is not being seen elsewhere," NIF President Ari Jonsson said.

"That really creates a different mindset when it comes to threats that you can actually see."

The most pressing needs on NATO's eastern flank are technologies that can detect, track and neutralise drones as well as space-based intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities, he said.

Lessons ‌from ⁠the war in Ukraine had significantly influenced the fund's investment strategy, Jonsson said.

Poland's high defence spending, openness to new technologies and strong engineering base have made it an attractive destination for investment, he said.

Jonsson said the ⁠fund was deliberately looking beyond traditional defence contractors for the next generation of defence technologies.

To support that effort, the fund is opening a presence in ⁠Warsaw to speed up the identification and adoption of promising innovations.

"The NATO Innovation Fund is the first major fund, not originating ⁠from Poland, to establish a substantial presence in our country," Polish Finance Minister Andrzej Domanski said in a statement.

Source: Reuters



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