NATO Defence Demonstration: Drones, data and interoperability in Riihimäki
With a population of just 30,000 people, Riihimäki may appear to be an unassuming place in Finland. But as the venue for the NATO Innovation Range Technical Demonstration for the Eastern Flank Deterrence Line (EFDL), it became a showcase for the future of defence technology over three intensive days. SpaceTime was proud to be at the centre of those efforts.
We previously highlighted the companies taking part in the demonstration in an earlier blog post, but seeing their technologies operate in a live environment brought a different level of clarity. From autonomous systems to sensing and communications, the event showed how rapidly defence technology is evolving, and how dependent it is on reliable data infrastructure.
SpaceTime participated as a technology partner, providing secure data storage and interoperability between connected systems and platforms. Working closely with ConfidentialMind, we helped enable AI and machine learning workloads with on-site GPU compute capacity available to participating teams.
Not every team had the time, capacity or requirement to integrate storage or AI capabilities during the event itself, but those that did demonstrated some clear advantages. Teams that successfully connected to SpaceTime’s S3-compatible storage or to other interoperable infrastructure, were recognised with commendation awards, underlining the importance of real-world integration rather than standalone demonstrations.
AI and data storage are now foundational technologies for defence use cases, from situational awareness to autonomous decision-making. Infrastructure like this will play a larger role in future NATO events. There’s vast scope for deeper integration between AI, compute and storage, particularly for hackathons or other types of events in the future.
We want to give a special shout-out to the teams that integrated SpaceTime’s technology during the demonstration and received commendation awards. They are proof that interoperability and readiness matter just as much as innovation itself.
It was a genuine pleasure to collaborate with RAIN,ConfidentialMind, and the other technical partners involved in the three-day event. The openness, professionalism and willingness to exchange ideas made the experience especially valuable.
Our team left Riihimäki with new partnerships, promising follow-up discussions, and a clearer understanding of how sovereign, secure infrastructure can better support future NATO exercises and defence innovation more broadly.
We look forward to the next assignment. In the meantime, if you want to read more about the event, here’s a selection of media articles:
- NATO Tests New Defense AI Technology in Finnish City of Riihimäki, Nordics Today
- Ukraine's kamikaze drones hit the front line as manpower shortage bites, Euro News
- Sota aikaa vastaan, Ilta Sanomat (Finnish)
