(Shutterstock)
NATO plans manufacturing scale up package
The move aims to close the gap between innovation and industrial scale.
27 MAY 2026
By
Olivia
Savage
Editor in Chief, DSEI Gateway
NATO is planning to launch a new package to increase the manufacturing capacity of the alliance, a NATO official told DSEI Gateway and other media at the International Drone Summit in Riga, Latvia on 27 May.
Known as the 'Innovation Scale Up Package', the initiative aims to help innovative companies scale up their production capacity, Tarjo Jaakkola, NATO's Assistant Secretary General for Defence Industry, Innovation and Armaments, said.
Ukrainian uncrewed aerial vehicle created by the Ukrspecsystems company for monitoring and adjusting fire on the battlefield.
As part of the package, NATO is looking to matchmake companies that lack manufacturing capacity with civilian businesses that could provide production services or lease facilities, Jaakkola said. This forms part of wider NATO efforts to grow and support innovative companies across the alliance, she added.
Although no timeframe has been given for the launch of the new package, Jaakkola said that NATO is currently negotiating terms with nations.
Meeting the surging demand from NATO and its allies is putting pressure on industry to scale up rapidly, a pace that current production levels are struggling to match.
While new for NATO, the matchmaking of civil and defence companies to boost manufacturing capacity is already happening across the alliance. Rafael Advanced Defence Systems is purportedly discussing plans to use Volkswagen’s Osnabrück car plant to manufacture components for its Iron Dome air defence system, according to the Financial Times.
Olivia
Savage
Editor in Chief, DSEI Gateway
Olivia Savage is the Editor in Chief of Clarion Defence & Security, organisers of DSEI and other defence events. Previously, she was a Senior Defence Journalist at Janes, specialising in electronic warfare, uncrewed systems, and space.