Defence Holdings Plc - Defence Technologies to Showcase Sovereign-AI Capabilities at NATO Task Force Maven Industry Day and Deepen Collaboration with Google Cloud at the Digital Sovereignty Summit
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Defence Holdings Plc22 Oct, 2025, 06:00 GMT
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
22 October 2025
London, UK
Defence Holdings PLC
(“Defence Holdings” or the “Company”)
Defence Technologies to Showcase Sovereign-AI Capabilities at NATO Task Force Maven Industry Day
and Deepen Collaboration with Google Cloud at the Digital Sovereignty Summit
Defence Holdings PLC (LSE: ALRT), the UK-listed defence technology group has been invited to showcase Defence Technologies’ sovereign-AI capability, Project Ixian, at the NATO Task Force Maven Industry Day on 21 November 2025 at SHAPE Headquarters.
The invitation places Defence Technologies among a select group, demonstrating operationally ready AI capabilities to senior NATO, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), Allied Command Operations (ACO), and national defence representatives driving the Alliance’s digital transformation. The event brings together programme leads, procurement authorities and operational commanders to identify emerging technologies for integration into the Maven Smart System (MSS), a cornerstone of NATO’s AI modernisation effort.
The Task Force Maven Industry Day marks a key stage in NATO’s plan to embed AI/ML, data-fusion and agile digital capability across the Alliance, accelerating the deployment of mission-ready sovereign software within the information domain.
At the event, Defence Technologies will present Project Ixian, an AI/ML-driven content-assessment and decision-support platform designed to enhance the analytical capability of systems such as MSS. Developed in partnership with EMEA’s Public Sector Google Cloud and led by Defence Technologies’ engineering team in Belfast, Ixian applies sovereign-AI pipelines to detect, assess and interpret open-source content, enabling faster, more informed decisions in information operations.
All components of Ixian are developed within the United Kingdom and adhere to NATO’s Principles of Responsible Use (PRUs) for AI in Defence. Demonstration slots at the Industry Day are limited and by invitation only. Invites are reserved for technologies showing near-term applicability to allied missions, underlining the significance of Defence Holdings’ inclusion.
The presentation follows Defence Technologies’ earlier demonstration of Ixian, alongside Google’s UK & EMEA Defence teams, at DSEI 2025, where the capability was previewed to NATO programme executives and allied information-operations leads. Participation at SHAPE builds directly on that engagement, strengthening Defence Technologies’ pipeline of opportunities across allied programmes focused on information integrity, operational resilience and sovereign-AI integration.
Defence Technologies have been invited to participate by the EMEA Google team in their Digital Sovereignty Summit in Munich on 13 November 2025, a gathering of European and allied government, defence and industry leaders focused on sovereign AI, secure cloud infrastructure and digital autonomy.
This consistent pattern of collaboration reinforces Defence Holdings’ position at the intersection of sovereign software and hyperscale technology, underpinning its broader role across allied AI and cloud-sovereignty initiatives.
Andy McCartney, Chief Technology Officer, commented:
“Defence Technologies is now operating at the heart of allied digital transformation. To be invited to contribute at this level, from NATO’s AI modernisation effort to Europe’s digital-sovereignty dialogue, underlines that our technology and our approach are both trusted and strategically relevant. Across our portfolio, the focus is on delivery. We’re building technology that solves specific operational problems and taking it through the right processes to make it usable, secure, and scalable for defence customers. The engagement we’re seeing, from end users, industry, and allies, shows that what we’re building is deployable and mission-critical.”
ENDS
About Defence Holdings PLC
Defence Holdings PLC (LSE: ALRT) is a leading listed software-led defence company, focused on developing sovereign defence capabilities for the digital age. The Company's five-year strategic plan, announced in June 2025, positions it to become a leading force in software-first defence solutions.
Website: www.defencetechnologies.com
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