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Finland’s Patria and Sweden’s ACC Innovation have signed a strategic cooperation agreement to develop a military-grade version of the Thunder Wasp GT, a heavy-lift quadcopter drone, for deployment by NATO member countries.
This partnership is seen as a significant step in advancing autonomous capabilities for defense operations, with a focus on rugged, high-performance solutions tailored for arctic and other extreme environments.
In the initial phase of the collaboration, the two companies will co-develop a militarized variant of the Thunder Wasp GT, an industrial-grade unmanned aerial system (UAS) with a maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of approximately 800kg. The upgraded platform will be designed to meet the operational needs of modern armed forces, including enhanced durability, secure communications, and mission-specific payload integration.
Mikko Leino, Executive Vice President 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. We see that the militarization of such a completely new type of capability has several potential applications in today’s constantly changing operational environment. We look forward to continuing our excellent cooperation with ACC Innovation.”
Max Drougge, CTO ACC Innovation AB, added, “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 the applications are wide-ranging, we remain committed to ensuring that our technologies are developed and deployed responsibly, with a clear focus on safety, reliability, and mission effectiveness.”
Patria brings deep expertise in defense technology and unmanned system integration, having spent several years developing comprehensive solutions for autonomous operations in the Nordic region’s uniquely challenging conditions. This includes not only the development of unmanned platforms but also the full mission chain, encompassing mission planning, navigation in GPS-denied environments, payload management, resilient communication systems, and post-mission analytics.
Crucially, Patria’s approach is platform-agnostic and modular, ensuring that its unmanned solutions can be flexibly integrated into various defense ecosystems. The company specializes in providing interoperable, industry-independent technologies that enable military and security authorities to adopt UAS capabilities tailored to their specific operational requirements.
The collaboration with ACC Innovation, which developed the Thunder Wasp GT for demanding commercial and industrial applications, aims to translate the drone’s heavy-lift capabilities and proven engineering into a robust tactical asset. Together, Patria and ACC Innovation will work to adapt the drone for defense missions including logistics support, ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance), and tactical transport in contested or austere environments.
This development aligns with broader NATO and European defense goals to expand autonomous and unmanned capabilities for enhanced operational flexibility, reduced risk to personnel, and mission efficiency in increasingly complex theaters of operation.
