The NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) has issued a new challenge targeting high-maturity artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. Titled “Decision Superiority for NATO Warfighters,” the solicitation focuses on integrating advanced analytics, sensor fusion, and space-based intelligence into NATO’s existing digital command platforms.
Unlike typical accelerator tracks that accept early-stage prototypes, this challenge specifically requires solutions at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 7 or higher. NATO is seeking commercially available software that can immediately transition military planning away from processes that are “constrained by linear processes, manual workflows and data that do not update or respond dynamically.”
A central requirement for prospective applicants is interoperability with the Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO). Currently utilized by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), MSS NATO serves as an AI-enabled digital warfighting platform. It ingests diverse multi-domain data to create a real-time, geospatially contextualized operating picture. Rather than soliciting standalone software, DIANA is asking industry to provide advanced “plug-in” capabilities that build upon this existing open architecture.
For the space and defence sector, the challenge highlights a growing operational reliance on commercial space assets to manage complex, multi-domain environments. DIANA explicitly calls for digital capabilities that can “extract insight from raw ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) feeds such as satellite imagery, radar data, full-motion video, [and] signals data.”
By applying computer vision, anomaly detection, and multi-source fusion to these feeds, NATO aims to reduce the cognitive burden on commanders. The goal is to have AI cross-reference orbital data with commercial tracking and open-source intelligence to rapidly identify threats—such as identifying a maritime vessel responsible for severing an undersea cable by correlating its movements with satellite imagery.
According to the challenge documentation, successful integrations will “augment or enhance operational planning and execution by integrating AI/ML models and innovative software solutions into existing digital platforms, increasing analytical depth, dynamism and accelerating decision-making in time-constrained operational environments.”
Beyond ISR fusion, NATO is also seeking capabilities for AI-driven wargaming, natural language decision-support interfaces, and automated target identification. Solutions selected through this challenge will directly support the alliance’s ongoing efforts to achieve true multi-domain integration across air, land, sea, space, and cyber operations.
The application window closes May 5, 2026.