Slipstream Design: Shipley firm gains global validation through NATO innovation programme
A Yorkshire-based digital and microwave radio frequency design specialist has boosted its global profile by participating in a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) innovation programme.
Slipstream Design has strengthened its market position after completing NATO’s Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).
The NATO DIANA programme is designed to identify and support emerging technologies with potential defence applications across nations which are part of NATO.
Selected from more than 3,200 applicants, Shipley-based Slipstream was one of only 28 UK companies chosen to take part in the six-month programme, where the team focused on developing its ASTRO wideband adaptive radio platform.
Launched in 2024, the ASTRO platform can send and receive radio signals across a range of frequencies.
It can also be reprogrammed in the field, allowing effective radio operation in congested electromagnetic environments.
Established in 2011, Slipstream Design specialises in wireless and digital product development and works with major communication, aerospace and security companies.
Commercial Director Sarah Gregory said: “The future of defence will depend on how quickly innovative technologies move from development into operational use.
"That’s the challenge we’ve spent the past six months tackling as part of the NATO DIANA programme, and we’ve learned a huge amount from the experience.
“It has helped us achieve a significant shift in momentum as a business, become more aligned with the direction of travel in the defence sector, and create invaluable opportunities for both the company and our ASTRO platform.”
A spokesman said the “significant outcomes” of the programme have included securing and delivering two major contracts totalling £1.5 million.
Ms Gregory added: “I am hugely proud of our team, who are working at the edge of what’s possible technically, so that we can do our part to keep societies safe.”
NATO is a defensive alliance of 32 countries from Europe and North America.
The alliance’s creation after the Second World War was part of a broader effort to serve three purposes: deterring Soviet expansionism, forbidding the revival of nationalist militarism in Europe through a strong North American presence on the continent, and encouraging European political integration.
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in 1949. In the Treaty's Article 5, the Allies agreed "an armed attack against one or more of them… shall be considered an attack against them all" and that following such an attack, each Ally would take "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force" in response.