As the BraveTechEu initiative continues its journey, it is important to shed light on its latest developments — including the successful selection of the six winning teams that tested their prototypes in Estonia and France, and the preparation of the second edition of DefTech Forges, taking place in mid-November 2026 in Germany and Romania.

Last June, France and Estonia stood up the first-ever hands-on event format in which European and Ukrainian start-ups and companies deployed their defense tool prototypes into the field, subjecting each solution to direct fire from mentors, technical experts, Ukrainian end-users and military specialists.

After five days of pressure-testing under operational scrutiny, the two Forges selected six companies to advance to Phase Two of Operational Experimentation — a deployment stage where prototypes leave the lab and face conditions closer to the front line.

Rannon, Tempterno Defence, Kova Labs, Soracell, SMÆSH and EdgeX Robotics Present Their Solutions

These six units, each fielding a distinct capability, now stand at the front of Europe’s defense-innovation formation:

• EdgeX Robotics (Poland) fields a modular unmanned ground vehicle platform for logistics, reconnaissance, and perimeter defense — pulling soldiers out of the line of fire and keeping boots off contested ground.
  
• Rannon (Latvia) has deployed SADURS, a reusable anti-drone rocket system built to counter the industrial-scale drone threat with a cost-effective, scalable interceptor capability.

• Tempterno Defence (Estonia) brings a multilayer counter-UAS force multiplier, unifying air, ground, and vehicle-based defense under a single AI-enabled command-and-control system.
  
• Kova Labs (Finland) deploys Kilo, a fully autonomous, unjammable unmanned system engineered to hold its own in dense forest terrain — exactly where most navigation systems break down under fire.

• Soracell (France) operates autonomous drone swarms that need no GPS and no human hand on the stick, extending mission reach deep into GNSS-denied territory.
  
• SMÆSH (Germany) has built a low-cost, self-healing mesh network that keeps soldiers, robots, and sensors in contact under jamming and contested conditions — communications that hold the line when the signal is under attack.

Together, these six companies cover the key fronts of European defense: ground mobility, air defense, counter-drone systems, autonomy in denied environments, and resilient connectivity and make their way to the Operational Experimentation Phase II, in coordination with European Defence Agency. This will take place in Portugal in September.

Cycle 2 Deploys: Germany and Romania Take Command in November 2026

The mission continues! 

Having started its journey in France and Estonia, DefTech Forges now travels to Romania and Germany where Cycle 2 will take place between 9 and 13 November 2026, with Bayern Innovativ and the Romanian Space Initiative taking command of the next two Forges.

Both organisations bring a proven track record running defense-innovation operations and deep entrenchment in their regional ecosystems:

• Bayern Innovativ, active since 1995 in innovation support and technology transfer across Bavaria, will open its regional network of companies and start-ups to the participating teams.
• The Romanian Space Initiative, a non-governmental organisation dedicated to building out Romania’s space ecosystem, will bring its own network of end-users and technical partners into the field.

This handover from the France–Estonia axis to the Germany–Romania axis is what gives DefTech Forges its staying power: each cycle inherits the momentum of the last while opening new terrain — new ecosystems, new end-users, new operational conditions.

Cycle 2 Objectives: Testing Programme in Romania and Germany 

Romanian Space Initiative, in coordination with the Romanian Land Forces will allow participants to commit to operational conditions, including live flight windows and controlled electronic-warfare exposure. 

The programme’s objectives include autonomous strike UAS (Unmanned Aerial Venicle), swarm coordination, EW resilience, and rapid battlefield adaptation.

• Unattended ground sensors: acoustic and seismic detection networks tested against cadets, vehicles, and drones.
• Autonomous strike UAS and swarms: supervised flight testing, swarm autonomy, and sensor-to-shooter integration.
• EW-resilient UAS operations: controlled jamming to test navigation, communications, and mission continuity under contested conditions.

• Rapid battlefield adaptation and modular systems: flight-line reconfiguration, modular payloads, and test–fix–retest cycles under time pressure.

Bayern Innovativ in coordination with the German Armed Forces will enable participants to test and evaluate their solutions in operational conditions, including controlled flight-testing within secure military training environments. 

The programme’s objectives will focus on RF seekers, autonomous strike UAS, swarm coordination, and battlefield adaptation.

• RF (Radio Frequency) seekers and terminal guidance: passive, semi-active and active RF detection, tracking, and precision guidance.
• Autonomous strike UAS and swarms: decentralised mission execution, resilient communications, and multi-drone coordination.
• Rapid battlefield adaptation: on-site payload reconfiguration, software updates and rapid hardware prototyping.

The programme covers the full engagement chain — detect, track, coordinate, strike and adapt – before some teams advance to Phase Two of the Operational Experimentation.

Apply for the Next Call for Applications — Launching 10 August!

With the objectives for Cycle 2 now finalized, the next mission is open for recruitment. The Call for Applications launches on Monday, 10 August and close on 6 September.

An informative webinar will take place on 25 August. If you want more information or wish to raise questions before sending your application, register here: https://tally.so/r/xXE6L5

You can also enlist directly as a participant: https://tally.so/r/44Db1B. If you have any open question, you can submit them via this contact form: https://bravetecheu-deftechforges.eu/contact/ 

The history of European defense is forming — we’re waiting for you to join its frontline together with DefTech Forges!