NATO and Ukraine have launched a 250,000-euro ($283,585) competition to develop technologies that can disrupt and disable enemy airfields.
Called the “Persistent Airfield Denial,” the challenge aims to “persistently deny” key aviation operations of adversaries, targeting their aircraft, runways, fuel and shell reserves, and ground support facilities.
Organizers said that the program also responds to hostile activities from protected installations that allow deployments of launch guided bombs, cruise missiles, and other stand-off weapons beyond the reach of Ukrainian defenses.
The initiative is led by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Center.
Program Requirements
A request for proposals published by NATO explained that the effort is open for autonomous or operator-controlled systems capable of sustained strikes, including standard unmanned aerial systems, loitering munitions, or swarming technologies.
Solutions must fly in signal-denied and electronic warfare-contested environments across all weather conditions.
The paper noted that officials prioritize systems that can strike multiple targets, feature endurance, and require minimal controller training.
Organizers also call for technologies that can be fielded rapidly, with a preference for solutions deployable within months.
Submissions are due by late July, with up to 10 finalists set for announcement in early August.
The shortlisted partners will showcase their concepts during a pitch event in Warsaw, where up to three winners will receive the prize pool and may advance toward further testing and integration.
“Each sortie originates from an airfield,” NATO wrote in the document.
“The battlefield logic is clear: point-defence and reactive interception of individual weapons must be complemented by persistent denial at source.”
