Milanion partners with Elistair and NovAtel to keep drones running during GPS jamming.

At World Defense Show 2026, Milanion Group announced two strategic Memoranda of Understanding with Elistair and NovAtel to integrate persistent ISR and assured PNT technologies into its unmanned systems portfolio.

At World Defense Show 2026 in Abu Dhabi, Milanion Group signed Memoranda of Understanding with Elistair of France and NovAtel of Canada to integrate tethered ISR, resilient communications, and assured positioning, navigation, and timing into its unmanned land, maritime, and air platforms. The agreements focus on maintaining operational capability in environments affected by electronic warfare, GNSS denial, jamming, spoofing, and cyber interference, with technical integration work scheduled to begin after the exhibition and demonstrations planned for later in 2026.
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This agreement combines persistent drone overwatch with assured positioning and anti-jam navigation to sustain the drone's situational awareness and mission accuracy under GNSS denial and electronic interference. (Picture source: Milanion)

Milanion Group announced the signing of two strategic Memoranda of Understanding with Elistair and NovAtel to integrate persistent intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), resilient communications, and assured positioning, navigation, and timing into Milanion’s unmanned and autonomous vehicles. The agreement covers land, maritime, and air domains and focuses on operations in contested environments where electronic warfare, GNSS denial, and cyber interference are present. Milanion linked the partnerships to requirements raised by defence delegations at WDS 2026 for unmanned systems that remain operational without dependence on vulnerable networks and that support sovereign-ready integration. Technical integration discussions with both companies are scheduled to begin immediately after the exhibition. Joint development pathways and capability demonstrations are planned later in 2026 as part of a broader connected autonomy architecture.

Milanion Group was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with legal incorporation in the United Kingdom. The company develops autonomous and optionally manned systems for military and security missions across land, sea, and air. Its land portfolio includes the Agema 8×8 amphibious unmanned ground vehicle, which possesses several modular payload configurations, alongside mobile mortar carrier systems such as the Alakran. Its air portfolio includes WarbleFLY loitering munitions and the Magia Swarm concept for coordinated aerial operations. Maritime activities include unmanned surface vessel conversion packages that enable remote or autonomous operation of existing vessels, including export-oriented work such as Indonesian Navy conversions. The company also produces ammunition, such as 120 PFF mortar rounds, and has a partnership with the Brazilian company Avibras about its Astros rocket launcher.

The Memorandum of Understanding with Elistair introduces tethered unmanned aerial systems into Milanion’s ground and maritime architecture. Elistair was founded in 2014 in Dardilly, France, and designs tethered drone systems that receive continuous electrical power and data connectivity through a ground-connected cable. This configuration allows uninterrupted flight without battery replacement and supports persistent ISR and communications missions. Elistair’s product range includes the Khronos automated drone-in-a-box system, capable of sustained airborne deployment, the Safe-T 2 tethering station, and the Ligh-T 4 compact deployable station, while earlier systems include the Orion. The French company reports deployments in more than 65 countries and serves defence, border security, public safety and industrial clients. Therefore, the new agreement is intended to provide a continuous elevated sensor and communications node that can operate in both fixed and mobile configurations alongside Milanion's unmanned assets.

The tethered drone integration is designed to create a sustained aerial overwatch layer that supports situational awareness and threat detection during extended operations. By eliminating reliance on onboard batteries, the system maintains airborne presence for prolonged periods and supports uninterrupted data transmission. The elevated node can extend line-of-sight communications and sensor coverage for unmanned ground vehicles, maritime platforms, and indirect fire units. This approach reduces operational pauses associated with battery-powered drone rotations and maintains a constant surveillance footprint. Milanion links this capability to mission persistence and real-time decision support during both manoeuvre and static deployments. The objective is to ensure continuity of ISR and communications in environments where endurance and signal reliability are operational constraints.

The second Memorandum of Understanding is with NovAtel, a Canadian company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, specialising in high-precision global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and assured PNT (Positioning, Navigation, and Timing) technologies. Founded in 1978 and integrated into Hexagon in 2007, NovAtel develops receivers, antennas, and inertial navigation systems for applications including defence, aerospace, marine, surveying, and autonomous vehicles. Its OEM7 receiver family includes models such as OEM7700, OEM7720, OEM719, and OEM7600, supporting multi-frequency and multi-constellation satellite tracking, including GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, and Galileo. Their portfolio also includes SPAN GNSS-INS integrated navigation systems, MarinePak7 marine navigation units, SMART2 and SMART7 antennas, VEXXIS high-precision antennas, and GAJT anti-jam antenna systems, including GAJT-310, GAJT-410ML, and GAJT-710MS. These systems are designed to maintain signal integrity under jamming and spoofing conditions. The company also provides correction services such as TerraStar to enhance real-time positional accuracy.

Embedding NovAtel assured-PNT and anti-jam technologies into Milanion assets is intended to maintain navigation accuracy and mission integrity during GNSS denial or interference. The integration supports secure routing, guidance stability, and targeting precision even when GPS signals are degraded or disrupted. This capability is relevant for unmanned ground vehicles, maritime conversions, and airborne systems operating in electronically contested theatres. Milanion links the functionality to survivability and operational continuity during electronic warfare and cyber-disruption scenarios. By combining assured navigation with persistent ISR and resilient communications, the company aims to maintain autonomous mission performance across multi-domain deployments. The approach integrates sensing, navigation, and communications into a unified architecture to address contested-environment requirements identified at WDS 2026.

In a statement accompanying the announcement, Mitesh Purohit, Vice President Global Sales at Milanion Group, stated that persistent ISR, resilient communications, and assured navigation constitute three core components of effective autonomous operations. He indicated that the partnerships reinforce these components through deployable technologies aligned with operational needs across land, air, and sea missions. Milanion confirmed that integration work will begin immediately after World Defense Show 2026 and that capability demonstrations are planned later in 2026. The company characterises the initiative as assembling a coalition of specialised technology providers to build a connected autonomy ecosystem. The stated objective is to deliver autonomous systems that integrate elevated sensing, secure communications, and assured positioning in a coordinated framework. These measures are intended to strengthen mission reliability and operational effectiveness in contested and GNSS-challenged environments.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.