NATO DIANA, on behalf of Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) has awarded an R&D contract to UK‑based technology company HonuWorx, marking the first research and development contract awarded on behalf of an Allied nation under NATO DIANA’s Rapid Adoption Service.
The contract follows DRDC’s decision to engage NATO DIANA and its Rapid Adoption Service to identify a DIANA innovator capable of addressing a Canadian capability need. Through this process, HonuWorx was selected to undertake a targeted engineering study as a follow‑on activity from NATO DIANA’s highly competitive challenge programme.
“HonuWorx’s proposed system, initially envisioned to support the offshore oil industry, holds the potential to allow Canadian Defence Research to effectively and efficiently operate and maintain future, deepwater power and data infrastructure and support the testing of emerging deep-sea technologies,” said Brian May, Section Head for Scientific and Engineering Trials at the Atlantic Research Centre of DRDC.
The Rapid Adoption Service enables NATO Allies and NATO bodies to co‑develop, prototype and, ultimately, acquire innovative technologies at speed and at scale. Under the Rapid Adoption Service framework, DIANA can award R&D and prototype contracts on behalf of Allies through an “opt‑in programme,” reducing administrative barriers and accelerating adoption timelines. Successfully demonstrated prototypes can then transition through to production without further competition.
HonuWorx, headquartered in Aberdeen, Scotland, was selected in 2025 for NATO DIANA’s Critical Infrastructure and Logistics Challenge. During Phase 1 of the DIANA programme, the company was paired with COVE, the DIANA accelerator site in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, where it worked closely with end users and technical experts to refine its solution.
HonuWorx, under an R&D contract with DRDC, will conduct an engineering study to extend the operating depth of its Loggerhead system.
The company’s patented uncrewed subsea systems deliver inspection and intervention capabilities without the need for surface vessels, enabling persistent, lower-cost operations with minimal surface footprint.
“Autonomous subsea systems are evolving from data collection platforms toward the delivery of real capability, with the potential to change how sensitive seabed operations are conducted. This work focuses on extending that capability into deeper environments while meeting specific operational requirements, and represents a further step toward operational deployment,” said Lee Wilson, CEO, HonuWorx.
Under the new R&D contract, HonuWorx will conduct an engineering study to extend the operating depth of its system and address specific end-user requirements for intervention in deepwater environments. The work will include development of a high-fidelity simulation suite to demonstrate mission potential in challenging operational environments, reducing technical risk and supporting the initial steps toward a deployable system.
NATO DIANA’s legal, commercial and adoption teams worked closely with DRDC to co‑develop the contract specification and establish the opt‑in programme under the Rapid Adoption Service, enabling DIANA to act on Canada’s behalf.
“The Rapid Adoption Service is designed to help Allies move faster from identified capability need to real-world solutions,” said Jyoti Hirani-Driver, Acting Managing Director of NATO DIANA. “By reducing administrative barriers and enabling DIANA to contract on behalf of nations through an opt‑in framework, we are accelerating the development and adoption of innovative technologies that can be tested, demonstrated, and ultimately deployed at speed. This contract with Defence Research and Development Canada and HonuWorx shows how Allied nations can quickly and collaboratively leverage DIANA to turn innovation into operational capability.”
The opt‑in programme allows other Allies and NATO bodies to join in future R&D, trials, or prototyping, supporting multinational cooperation, interoperability and faster adoption. The Rapid Adoption Service directly supports NATO’s Rapid Adoption Action Plan, agreed by Heads of State and Government at the 2025 Hague Summit, which aims to reduce technology adoption timelines across the Alliance to a maximum of 24 months.