Slipstream Engineering Design (Slipstream Design) will join the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), an organization established by NATO to find and accelerate dual-use innovation capacity across the alliance.
Slipstream Design was selected from over 3,600 applicants to be one of 150 companies from across NATO to join phase one of the program. Slipstream Design’s application was focused on developing its ASTRO wideband adaptive radio platform, which delivers resilient sensing and communication technology to allow operation in congested electromagnetic environments.
Starting in January 2026, the six-month accelerator gives Slipstream Design access to test centers, end users and NATO defense expertise. It will also enable the team to test equipment operationally. The company will also receive €100k in funding to further develop its high-performance software-defined radio platform, ASTRO, which combines both radar and communication modes.
Slipstream Design’s Technical Director Dr. Mike Roberts said, “After a tough selection and interview process open to companies across many countries, it’s an enormous privilege to have been selected to join NATO’s DIANA accelerator. This will open significant opportunities to further demonstrate ASTRO’s capabilities and develop the next iteration of the technology. The support we access through the accelerator will also allow us to validate real-world performance and deliver a deployable, dual-use capability to new markets.”
Launched in 2024, ASTRO is a state-of-the-art Wideband Adaptive Radio Processor resulting from Slipstream Design’s focused R&D initiatives. This innovative module advances the performance and flexibility of sensing and communication equipment by improving overall system agility. Modern cities and battlefield environments are full of wireless signals. This tech helps avoid collisions and interference, as well as reducing equipment needs due to its multimodal capability. The team achieved a significant milestone at the start of 2025 when it demonstrated the reconfigurable neutral host radio unit generating complex telecommunications waveforms in public and private 5G frequency bands when testing over the air at BT’s Adastral Park
Dr. Roberts added, “The team at Slipstream Design worked incredibly hard to secure our spot on the NATO DIANA accelerator. I want to extend our thanks to them and share just how excited we are to start work on this in January 2026.”