The U.S. Army Wants More Drones, Faster Technology and Better Soldier Protection. Here's What I Saw at AUSA 2026.
This Post is disseminated on behalf of Intellistake Technologies Corp.
Forty thousand people. More than 750 exhibits. Some of the biggest defense companies in the world, all under one roof.
I walked into AUSA 2026 with Craig Micklich. Twelve years a U.S. Navy SEAL, now the founder of NanoAi, the company Intellistake has agreed to acquire.
A convention hall the size of several football fields. A howitzer parked on the carpet. Drones hanging from the ceiling. Companies with billion-dollar contracts in every direction.
But the thing that stayed with me was how clearly the U.S. Army said what it wants next, and how closely that matched what NanoAi is building.
US$50 Billion. A Million Drones. A Faster Army.
AUSA is where the Army tells industry what it needs and how fast it needs it.
This year it took three sentences.
“At the speed of business, not the speed of government.”
Acting Army Secretary Adam Telle, opening day, on getting technology into soldiers’ hands faster. [1]
From thousands of drones toward a million. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, two days later at the Project Agincourt session, describing a request for roughly US$50 billion in additional funding for autonomous and robotic systems. [2] A request, not yet a budget line, and separate from the US53.6 billion the Pentagon has proposed for Drone Dominance in fiscal 2027, which covers unmanned procurement, counter-drone, contested logistics, collaborative autonomy and the people to run it all. [2]
“There’s still a soldier and a rucksack, and they can only carry so much.”
Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army’s acting Chief of Staff, on what all of that equipment means for the person wearing it. [9]
Faster. More machines. Less on the soldier’s back.
Those three lines are the brief. Everything on the floor was pitching to at least one of them.
Anduril, Lockheed Martin, Palantir. The Industry Is Already Moving.
Anduril Industries’ exhibition at AUSA 2026 in Washington, D.C., October 12–14. Photographed during my visit.
Anduril was the company I was following closest.
On October 5 it announced a U.S. Army contract worth up to US$1.8 billion over five years to take Next Generation Command and Control from experimentation toward operational deployment. [3] At the show, Anduril and Lockheed Martin introduced new interceptor concepts.
Its founder, Palmer Luckey, was also named this month as a co-director of Project Meridian, a Pentagon-commissioned study of emerging technology led by MITRE, alongside Elon Musk and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. [4]
Machines Can See. What Can They Detect?
Luckey said something in an interview that week that I have not stopped thinking about.
His argument: every sensor on the battlefield should be able to share what it detects with every system that can act on it, regardless of who built either one.[5]
I agree. Connected systems make every sensor more valuable.
But connecting sensors only moves around what they already detect.
A camera can flag a suspicious object. It cannot tell you whether that object contains explosives. Send a drone to look instead of a soldier and you have moved the person out of range. You have not changed what the machine can sense.
If machines are going to go first, they need a nose.
That is the problem NanoAi is working on: a proprietary standoff detection platform, designed to detect explosives, ammunition and narcotics in real time, without physical contact, from wearable, helmet-mounted, drone, robotic, vehicle and fixed platforms. Defense first, then law enforcement, border security and critical infrastructure.[7]
The Gentex Exhibit
Gentex Corporation's Ops-Core® helmet with the RAILINK® Power and Data ARC Rail System, photographed during my visit at AUSA 2026
Gentex Corporation has more than 130 years in personal protection and situational awareness for defense, law enforcement and security forces worldwide. [6] Its Ops-Core® RAILINK® system runs power and data through the helmet’s accessory rail, so compatible devices can share power and communicate as one connected headborne platform. [6]
NanoAi is a licensed development collaborator within that ecosystem. As Intellistake announced on October 13, NanoAi has taken physical possession of Gentex’s full Ops-Core® RAILINK® Power and Data ARC Rail System and commenced hands-on development work, and over the coming months intends to work alongside Gentex’s engineering team to integrate its sensing technology into the platform. [6]
NanoAi’s technology is not yet integrated with RAILINK. That work is in progress.
Standing at that booth, the connected soldier stopped being an abstraction. Cameras, communications, night vision, all on one helmet, all drawing from one rail. NanoAi’s development work is directed at bringing standoff detection into that environment without adding to the soldier’s load.
The People Mattered More Than the Equipment
The most valuable part of the day was the conversations.
Craig and I met prospective defense customers, investors and companies in the Ops-Core® RAILINK® accessory program. [10] Craig has stood where this technology is meant to stand. When he describes identifying a threat in the field, the people across the table know he is not describing a product category.
Here is how he put it afterwards:
“Everything described at AUSA about drones, autonomy and a soldier who cannot carry any more weight was my reality as a Navy SEAL. That is why I founded NanoAi. I know what it means to detect a threat at a distance instead of walking up to it. AUSA confirmed that the situation I built this technology for is the one the Army is preparing for now.” [ 10]
Since August, NanoAi has opened its Dallas-Richardson Op Center, assembled its technology leadership team and started laboratory testing. On October 15, the day after the show closed, it reported its first targeted explosive result: Threat 001, registered at a 10ft standoff in 0.80 seconds, no contact, on camera. [7] I covered that result separately, and the full test is here: watch .
That was one result, in a controlled laboratory, against a single targeted explosive. There is development, testing and integration still ahead, and the technology has not been commercially deployed.
We left Washington with conversations under way.
What I Took Home
The Army is asking industry to move faster, field more autonomous systems and protect the soldier carrying the rest.
NanoAi is developing a sensor intended for both the soldier and the machine. Its Gentex development work has started. Its lab program has produced a first reported result. And it is now talking to the people who write the requirements.
None of that is a contract. It is a direction, and it is the same direction the Army spent three days describing.
That is why Craig and I were in Washington.
Disclaimer
Intellistake has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NanoAi and Intellistake has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire NanoAi and Completion of the NanoAi transaction remains subject to customary conditions including completion of satisfactory due diligence (including verifying title to the intellectual property of NanoAi), completion of the audit of financial statements of NanoAi, the Company maintaining a minimum cash balance of $2 million and no objection from the Canadian Securities Exchange. Closing is subject to satisfaction of closing conditions in the definitive agreement.
This report contains "forward-looking information" concerning anticipated developments and events related to the Company that may occur in the future. Forward looking information contained in this report includes, but is not limited to, all statements in respect of the Company's growth and development, expectations regarding market growth, the operations and business segments of the Company and NanoAi, the functionality of the Company’s technology, and its benefits, the details of the proposed acquisition of NanoAi, the conditions to completion of the proposed acquisition of NanoAi, the benefits of the acquisition of NanoAi, the business model of NanoAi, the applications of the NanoAi technology, the synergies between NanoAi and the Company, and bridging the gap between emerging decentralized networks and real-world industry adoption.
In certain cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "expects", "intends", "anticipates" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "would", or "might" suggesting future outcomes, or other expectations, assumptions, intentions or statements about future events or performance. Forward-looking information contained in this report is based on certain assumptions regarding, among other things, the Company will continue to have access to financing until it achieves profitability; the Company and NanoAi satisfy all conditions necessary to close the proposed transaction; the technology and blockchain industries in which the Company intends to focus its business in will grow at the rate and in the manner expected; the ability to attract qualified personnel; the success of market initiatives and the ability to grow brand awareness; the ability to distribute Company's services; the Company creates strategies to mitigate risks associated with cryptocurrency price fluctuations; the Company remains compliant with all applicable laws and securities regulations and applicable licensing requirements; the Company engages and collaborates with local experts, as necessary, to address jurisdiction-specific matters and ensures compliance with foreign regulations to avoid penalties; the Company addresses any potential cybersecurity threats promptly and effectively; the ability of the Company to develop its technology, acquire customers and have revenue; the ability to successfully deploy the new business strategy as a result of the change of business. While the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable, they may be incorrect.
Forward looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results to be materially different from any future results expressed by the forward-looking information. Such factors include risks related to general business, economic and social uncertainties; failure of the Company and NanoAi to satisfy all conditions necessary to close the proposed transaction; failure to raise the capital necessary to fund its operations; inability to create strategies to mitigate the risks associated with cryptocurrency price fluctuations; the costs of regulation in the digital asset industries increase to the extent that the Company is no longer generating sufficient returns for shareholders; failure to promptly and effectively address cybersecurity threats; insufficient resources to maintain its operations on a competitive basis; and the actual costs, timing and future plans differs expectations; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; the inherent risks involved in the cryptocurrency and general securities markets; the Company may not be able to profitably liquidate its current digital currency inventory, or at all; a decline in digital currency prices may have a significant negative impact on the Company's operations; the Company's success may depend on the continued involvement of key personnel, including advisors, whose involvement cannot be guaranteed; institutional adoption of decentralized AI infrastructure remains uncertain and may not occur at the pace or scale anticipated; evolving regulatory frameworks, including those related to AI (such as Canada's proposed Artificial Intelligence and Data Act) and prediction markets, may impose additional compliance burdens or restrict certain business activities; valuation figures are based on publicly available market data and internal assessments at the time of the referenced transactions and may not reflect current or future valuations; the volatility of digital currency prices; the inherent uncertainty of cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, currency fluctuations; regulatory restrictions, liability, competition, loss of key employees and other related risks and uncertainties; delay or failure to receive regulatory approvals; failure to attract qualified personnel, labour disputes; and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's filings with applicable Canadian securities regulators.
Although the Company has attempted to identify factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this report. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update forward-looking information.