NATO launched a counter-drone marketplace on November 5, 2026, enabling allied countries to order from a catalog of 16 preselected solutions without running a separate tender. The NATO Communications and Information Agency, which manages the marketplace, selected Alta Ares, Axon Enterprise, Northrop Grumman, OSL UK and Quantum Systems; the selected capabilities have already been deployed in allied countries and Ukraine, and include static, transportable and mobile systems to protect military installations, critical infrastructure and troops on the move.
NCIA evaluated bids against four reference scenarios: area protection covering a zone up to 3 kilometers in diameter, such as an airbase or logistics hub; border protection across a 20-kilometer border segment; convoy protection for a moving column up to 300 meters long traveling at up to 50 kilometers per hour; and point protection for a single high-value asset or location such as a command post. The framework contracts run for 18 months from signature, with an option to extend, and NATO has allocated 3.1 million euros ($3.5 million) to fund further testing of the selected systems by allied nations or NATO commands.
French counter-drone company Alta Ares announced on November 5 that it had secured six of the 16 lots, covering area defense and border protection, and was the only supplier selected for area defense across fixed, deployable and mobile configurations; in June 2026 it signed a memorandum of understanding with Airbus Defence and Space to integrate its interceptors into the Fortion IBMS command and control software. The marketplace forms part of Drone Edge, an initiative launched by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara on July 7, 2026, under which allies committed to investing more than $40 billion (35.6 billion euros) in counter-drone capabilities over five years, although the procurement competition predates Drone Edge: NCIA notified NATO nations of the planned framework on October 17, 2025.