A Czech defence technology company recognised by NATO for its work on autonomous military systems is targeting Britain for expansion, seeking UK industrial partners as European governments look to translate lessons from Ukraine into deployable battlefield capabilities.
LPP Holding, which specialises in autonomous unmanned systems, is positioning the UK as a priority market as it pursues wider European growth following its first-place finish in the 2026 NATO Innovation Challenge.
The company is seeking British partners across manufacturing, engineering, systems integration and long-term operational support, arguing that the next challenge for European defence is not simply developing advanced technology but producing it affordably and at the scale modern warfare demands.
“Technological sophistication alone is not enough,” said Martina Tauberová, LPP Holding’s head of government and strategic relations. “Autonomous systems must remain effective in contested environments, but they must also be affordable and available at scale. GNSS should be an option, not a dependency.”
The push comes as the war in Ukraine has exposed the vulnerability of conventional navigation and communications systems to electronic warfare, increasing the importance of autonomous platforms capable of operating when satellite navigation and external communications are disrupted.
LPP’s approach centres on an artificial intelligence-based visual navigation system that combines onboard sensors, computer vision and algorithms to enable operations without continuous reliance on global navigation satellite systems, or GNSS.
The company believes the technology could address a pressing challenge for NATO forces: maintaining the ability to conduct long-range autonomous operations in environments where satellite signals and communications cannot be relied upon.
That was the focus of the 2026 NATO Innovation Challenge, organised by NATO’s Allied Command Transformation and the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training and Education Centre. The competition, titled “Persistent Airfield Denial”, attracted more than 60 entries, with 10 finalists selected to present their solutions.
“Winning the NATO Innovation Challenge was not an end point for us,” Tauberová said. “It confirmed that the operational challenge we are addressing, how to deliver effects at long range when GNSS and communications are denied, is highly relevant to the UK and its NATO allies.”
For LPP, however, technological capability is only one part of the proposition. Its expansion plans also reflect the challenge facing European defence manufacturers as governments seek systems that can be delivered quickly, sustained over time and produced in sufficient quantities.
The company combines in-house research and development with established manufacturing facilities in the Czech Republic and is expanding production capacity to meet international demand. UK partnerships could provide additional industrial expertise and help connect its technologies with Britain’s defence supply chain.
LPP’s portfolio includes the MTS family of long-range autonomous unmanned aerial systems, drawing on operational experience in Ukraine, as well as the JWI-4000 autonomous counter-drone interceptor and the Narwhal cruise missile programme.
The company says collaboration with British businesses could support skilled employment, strengthen domestic supply chains and create opportunities across engineering, manufacturing and systems integration.
Its ambitions also align with the UK’s Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy, which emphasise autonomous systems, rapid technological innovation and the development of a stronger domestic defence industrial base.
The wider question for European defence companies is whether battlefield innovation can be converted into industrial capacity quickly enough to meet changing military requirements. Systems that perform in contested environments must also be practical to manufacture, maintain and deploy at scale.
“Europe needs to translate innovation into deployable military capability,” Tauberová said. “That is precisely where we believe LPP can make a meaningful contribution.”
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