Two Estonian defence companies, Wayren and Telearmy, have been chosen among 15 firms advancing to Phase 2 of NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) programme, which links 75 innovation centres worldwide. The selection comes from a pool of more than 2,600 applicants across the NATO Alliance.

 

Wayren develops battlefield communication systems that maintain data and voice links in disrupted conditions by switching between satellite, radio and mobile networks. “Being selected for DIANA Phase 2 is a huge vote of confidence in our mission to ensure mission-cricial teams stay operational when it matters most. Our reliable communication platform provides rapid decision making and command and control capabilities even when everything else fails – with difficult terrain, disruptions and infrastructure failure. DIANA gives us the resources and partners to get our technology into the hands of NATO forces faster,” said Henry Härm, CEO of Wayren.

 

 

Telearmy designs remote driving technology for military vehicles, retrofitting platforms from light ATVs to armoured vehicles for unmanned operations in logistics, reconnaissance and evacuations. “Estonia’s size, tech-savviness, and openness to new technologies have given us unique tools to move with agility and bring deep technologies into real use cases. With our technology already war-proven in Ukraine, NATO DIANA’s quality stamp, and now high-level support, we can scale rapidly – turning any military vehicle into a remotely operated from very far distances, keeping soldiers out of danger and providing a more flexible way to operate on the changing battlefield,” said Enn Laansoo Jr., CEO of Telearmy.

Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur welcomed the news, saying: “I am very pleased to see Estonia’s contribution to NATO DIANA stand out so strongly. The fact that three of the teams that accelerated here in Estonia – including two of our own defense industry companies – have advanced to the next stage shows how quickly Estonian entrepreneurs can adapt, act and seize opportunities. The same applies to our Defense Forces, who have been on board with testing new solutions.”

 

 

Each company will receive €300,000 in non-dilutive funding, access to NATO test centres and tailored support through NATO’s Rapid Adoption Service programme. Alongside the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, Estonia is one of the few nations represented by more than one firm in Phase 2.

The announcement coincides with Estonia’s commitment to increase defence spending to 5.4% of GDP by 2026, with a projected €10 billion investment between 2026 and 2029. In 2025, defence expenditure is expected to reach about 3.38% of GDP, well above the EU and NATO averages.