The Dutch Ministry of Defence has signed a strategic partnership worth more than €30 million with Intelic to build the software foundation for its future unmanned systems ecosystem. The agreement makes the Netherlands the first country in the world to formally invest in a Software-First approach to military interoperability.
The three-year agreement represents a shift in how defence capabilities are developed. Instead of acquiring platforms first and addressing integration challenges afterwards, the Dutch Ministry of Defence is making interoperability the starting point of its strategy.
Under the partnership, Intelic will work with the Ministry over the next three years to develop and evolve the software architecture required to connect unmanned aerial and ground systems into a single operational ecosystem. Central to the partnership is Intelic’s NEXUS command-and-control software, which enables unmanned systems from different manufacturers to operate together within a single mission environment. This can reduce deployment times and operator training requirements while enabling different unmanned systems to work together reliably.
Interoperability First
The rapid development of drone warfare and autonomous systems has highlighted a growing challenge for military organisations: fragmented technologies that can struggle to operate together.
Through its Software-First strategy, the Netherlands aims to ensure that new technologies, sensors and capabilities can be integrated quickly and effectively, regardless of platform or manufacturer.
“Ukraine teaches us that not only the hardware, but also the software is of great importance. Making different drone systems work together makes the fight easier. I am proud that a Dutch company can now meet this demand. We are entering into a partnership together, leaving the classic customer-supplier relationship behind us and committing to each other for a longer period of time,” said Derk Boswijk, Minister for Arms Procurement and Personnel of the Netherlands (Staatssecretaris van Defensie).
The approach is informed by developments on the Ukrainian frontline, which demonstrate the importance of interoperable systems for surveillance, supply chain management and defence. NEXUS has been used on the battlefield in Ukraine since 2025, allowing drone operators to respond rapidly to changing conditions.
Building the Software Foundation for Future Defence
The partnership builds on Intelic’s vision of software-defined interoperability. Earlier this year, the company launched Intelic BASE, a procurement platform connecting European drone manufacturers with Ministries of Defence and helping governments explore and identify unmanned systems already integrated with NEXUS across the European defence industrial base.
By focusing on interoperability before procurement decisions are made, the Dutch Ministry of Defence aims to reduce integration risks, accelerate deployment timelines and maintain flexibility as new technologies emerge.
“Europe now has more than 700 drone manufacturers, and that number continues to grow. For defence organisations, the challenge is no longer access to technology, but ensuring those technologies can operate together. Military advantage increasingly depends on software that connects platforms rather than locking governments into individual systems. This partnership reflects a fundamental shift from platform-centric procurement to software-defined defence capabilities built around interoperability,” said Maurits Korthals Altes, CEO of Intelic.
