Artificial Intelligence in Defence: NATO and EU Strategies and Innovations

This short analytical note frames Artificial Intelligence in Defence as a question of European strategic autonomy, where a capability becomes strategically and financially relevant through alignment with recognised priorities, not the technology alone. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic integration of artificial intelligence in defence, as articulated in official NATO and EU frameworks between 2023 and 2025. It maps the convergence of AI with operational domains such as C4ISR, autonomous targeting, cyber defence, logistics, edge computing, and decision support systems. Drawing exclusively on institutional sources—including EDF, DIANA, NIF, EIC, and EDA Innovation Prizes—it identifies how AI has moved from experimental concepts to embedded capabilities within NATO-EU joint planning and procurement logic. The report outlines how LLMs, AI-enabled autonomy, and predictive analytics are now central to European technological sovereignty and operational resilience. Why this capability becomes strategically and financially relevant is developed in full in the original DFM publication on DFM Analysis.