Nokia and NestAI Announce Development of AI-Powered Defense Capabilities

Nokia Defense and its technology partner NestAI have begun developing the first operational capabilities from their collaboration, aiming to integrate advanced AI with secure communications for military applications. The move follows a €100 million joint investment in NestAI by Nokia and Finnish state-owned investment company Tesi, which was announced in November 2025.

Integrated Defense Solutions

The partnership is focused on creating three distinct, integrated operational capabilities designed to meet NATO requirements. Both companies stated these are being built using European-developed systems to address the challenges of modern warfare, including drone threats and electronic attacks.

Key capabilities now in development include:

• Enhanced Command and Control: Combining Nokia’s deployable 5G networks with NestAI’s adaptive battlefield operating system, NestOS, to support autonomous systems and maintain operational command in contested environments.
• Adaptive Mission Planning: Integrating Nokia's radio-network planning models into NestOS to allow forces to assess and adapt their connectivity in real-time during operations.
• Advanced Threat Detection: Merging Nokia’s Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) capability with NestAI’s multi-sensor tracking to provide wide-area situational awareness against emerging threats.

Ad

Strategic Rationale and Market Context

The collaboration addresses a critical need in the defense sector for AI-powered tools that can function reliably in environments where communications may be denied or actively attacked. The solutions are specifically designed for resilience against active electronic warfare and sophisticated drone threats.

"Defense is moving quickly to adopt AI-enabled capabilities, from mission planning to unmanned operations. But AI only works in the field when it has secure, resilient connectivity behind it," said Mikko Hautala, Chairman of Nokia Defense. Peter Sarlin, Founder and Executive Chairman of NestAI, added that the partnership addresses the "real conditions European forces face... on technology that Europe develops and controls."