Patria, ACC to build heavy-lift drone for NATO

Finnish defense company Patria and Swedish drone manufacturer ACC Innovation AB have signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop a military-grade version of the Thunder Wasp GT, an 800-kilogram quadcopter drone, for future deployment within NATO forces.

The collaboration will begin with the militarization of ACC Innovation’s Thunder Wasp GT, a heavy-lift unmanned aerial system originally designed for industrial applications.

The new defense-oriented variant is intended to meet the operational needs of NATO member states, with modifications to support mission planning, communications security, and payload integration in contested environments.

In a statement, Mikko Leino, Executive Vice President of Operations at Patria, said: “Patria’s strong background in research and development provides a good foundation for bringing new intelligent features to drone systems. Patria has wide expertise in developing and integrating the capabilities required for military use into the chosen platforms to achieve the desired performance.”

Leino emphasized the growing relevance of such systems in a rapidly evolving operational environment and said the joint effort reflects both companies’ interest in delivering adaptable and mission-ready platforms.

Max Drougge, Chief Technology Officer at ACC Innovation, highlighted the strategic value of the agreement: “We are proud to announce our collaboration with Patria, a partnership that represents a significant step forward in the development and deployment of advanced aerial platforms. Our expertise in high-performance quadcopter systems, combined with Patria’s vast experience in defense innovation, will allow us to explore new frontiers in autonomous and heavy-lift aerial technologies.”

While details of the military payload and system integration timeline have not been disclosed, both companies stressed a shared focus on safety, reliability, and operational effectiveness.

According to Patria, the program will account for extreme conditions typical of Nordic regions and is expected to incorporate autonomous navigation, secure communications, and real-time data analysis.

Patria has spent several years advancing technologies to support unmanned operations in military settings. The company says its approach spans the entire mission lifecycle—from planning and navigation in difficult terrain to post-mission data processing—and is built to support platform-agnostic integration for defense and security forces.