NATO invites some alliance outsiders to compete in Innovation Continuum exercises
NATO opened its submission window for proposals from international stakeholders looking to compete in the 2026 Innovation Continuum exercise series with cutting-edge technologies and associated research and development projects that could transform the alliance’s operational capacity and weapons arsenal.
Those interested in participating or providing feedback on the plan have until Jan. 30 to respond to a new request for information — and clarifying questions are due to NATO by Jan. 16.
“By systematically engaging nations, industry, and academia, the IC reduces adoption risk, improves interoperability, and shortens the time it takes for innovative solutions to deliver tangible military impact. Ultimately, the Innovation Continuum ensures NATO’s Military Instrument of Power remains agile, credible, and ahead of potential adversaries,” a NATO spokesperson told DefenseScoop on Monday.
The official discussed the program’s evolution to date and shed light on certain elements that are new and notable this year, in its third iteration.
“Over the past few years, [the] Innovation Continuum platform has proven to be an effective factory accelerating delivery of emerging and disruptive technologies to warfighters,” the spokesperson said.
Broadly, the initiative prioritizes activities and tech that can help resolve contemporary operational challenges. It’s meant to align and synchronize various NATO innovation efforts into a coherent process that quickly moves ideas from identification and concept development through experimentation, validation and demonstration.
According to the alliance spokesperson, “the motivation for IC grew out of frustration at how poorly we were addressing the ‘valley of death’ issue in NATO” — referring to the phenomenon where governments’ typically slow-moving procurement systems can stifle successful innovative pilots from transitioning to production because the companies can’t receive funding quickly enough.
“The lack of acceleration mechanisms that would allow us to rapidly adopt lab and startup solutions, and bureaucracy associated with traditional capability delivery models motivated us to find an alternative solution,” the official said.
In early 2026, NATO stands as a 32-member military alliance that’s adapting to new global realities and reaffirming its core aims around collective defense. Member nations are massively increasing their cooperative and individual defense budgets and production rates, as they confront severe security threats from Russia and other adversaries.
This year notably marks the first Innovation Continuum event where four Indo-Pacific nations — Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand — that aren’t members of NATO are also eligible to compete.
“This expansion is important because it allows NATO to tap into the advanced science, technology, and industrial ecosystems of the Indo-Pacific partners,” the spokesperson told DefenseScoop.
“Ukraine, while already participating in 2025, remains especially valuable given its frontline experience in modern conflict; its continued involvement ensures that lessons learned from real-world, high-intensity operations directly inform NATO’s innovation, experimentation, and rapid adoption efforts,” the official added.
Other newly invited entrants include those from nations involved in the alliance’s Science and Technology Enhanced Partnership, such as Switzerland.
Led by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation (ACT), each year Innovation Continuum involves a structured framework meant to speed up capability adoption across four sequential phases and events that individually concentrate on scoping, designing, validating and evaluating tech options.
In 2026, the culminating events include SPARK in Bulgaria, Feb. 25-26; IGNITE in Poland, May 5-7; GLOW in Canada, Sept. 1-3; and SHINE, also in Canada, Oct. 5-9.
“The 2026 events under this framework will focus on advancing Multi-Domain Operations and Digital Transformation through the application of emerging technologies, further reinforcing NATO’s commitment to innovation and adaptability in addressing evolving security challenges,” the RFI states.
Further, this year’s edition is prioritizing eight specific themes to advance allies’ Rapid Adoption Action Plan and NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre initiatives.
The NATO spokesperson said the themes get after “the most pressing areas of warfare development and warfighting.”
Per the RFI, those include “AI audacious training”; layered counter-UAS initiative; next-generation targeting; smart logistics and sustainment; electronic warfare; AI next-gen C4ISR; cognitive warfare; and cyber resilience.
“For the most promising proposals, there may be opportunities for deeper collaboration through focused projects and an expedited path to rapid adoption,” officials wrote in the information request. “Overall, involvement in the Innovation Continuum has the potential to foster valuable partnerships and contribute to significant [defense] innovation efforts.”
Last year’s events attracted more than 700 participants and encompassed more than 70 technology experiments and demonstrations.
