NquiringMinds advances AI targeting and cyber resilience with NATO

UK defence AI company NquiringMinds is working with NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) to explore how AI and adaptive cyber technologies can support faster, more resilient military operations.

From 1–3 September, the NquiringMinds team took part in GLOW, the integration and validation phase of NATO ACT’s 2026 Innovation Continuum, held at COVE in Halifax, Canada.

The work addresses two NATO priority areas: Next Generation Targeting and Cyber Resilience. It draws on NquiringMinds’ expertise in secure AI, sensor integration and dynamic networks.

NquiringMinds is demonstrating how technology can:

• use AI to support ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) information collection and targeting;
• use a live picture of cyber posture to inform mission planning; and
• adapt communications networks as cyber threats and mission priorities change.

Cyber Resilience

In the Cyber Resilience syndicate, the team showed drones that assess their own trustworthiness on board, in real time, and stay secure and connected when central systems are disrupted.

“At GLOW, we demonstrated drones that keep themselves trusted, secure and connected in contested environments — operating autonomously at the edge, in real time, when central systems are disrupted.” — Dr Ashley Setter, NquiringMinds

Next Generation Targeting

In the Next Generation Targeting syndicate, the team worked with NATO representatives and partner Haevek on AI-supported decision-making across the targeting cycle.

“At GLOW, we worked closely with NATO representatives to build a shared understanding of the dynamic targeting process and explore how AI reasoning could support faster, better-informed decision-making throughout the cycle. We also looked at how high-performance computing and NquiringMinds’ AI capabilities could support rapid collateral damage estimation in complex operational environments.” — Ionut Bostan, NquiringMinds

Next stop: SHINE

The Halifax work prepares the systems for SHINE, NATO ACT’s flagship live experimentation and demonstration event, running 5–9 October 2026. At SHINE, NquiringMinds will take the work into a live environment, including a flying drone demonstration showing how AI-enabled ISR can feed targeting decisions while the underlying network adapts to cyber and mission conditions.

Nick Allott, CEO of NquiringMinds, said:

“Modern operations depend on being able to make sense of information quickly while continuing to operate when communications are disrupted or under attack. Our work with NATO is exploring how AI, autonomous systems and adaptive networks can work together to give commanders better information and more resilient options in contested environments.”

SHINE is the culmination of NATO ACT’s 2026 Innovation Continuum, bringing together NATO, nations, industry and academia to evaluate emerging technologies in realistic military scenarios.

Related: NATO, NATO Innovation Continuum, NATO AI case study. Further background is on the NATO ACT Innovation Continuum page.