Last weekend, our Junior Marketeer Claudia Lita took part in 𝐁𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 3 at the Commando Training Centre in Marche-les-Dames, Belgium, organised by Innovation for Defence in collaboration with Belgian Defence.
We wanted to deepen our understanding of defence innovation ecosystems and gain first-hand insight into how defence, innovators, researchers, and industry collaborate around emerging technologies. This also connects closely to Claudia’s thesis research on defence 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐠𝐢𝐮𝐦.
Claudia’s team worked on the 𝐃𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 & 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞, focusing on how frontline soldiers can receive faster warnings about hidden radio-frequency (RF) threats such as drones, jammers, and hostile signals. Their proposed solution was a 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐑𝐅 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫-𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝. Claudia contributed from the business and strategic perspective, helping the team think about user needs, practical applicability, value creation, and clear positioning.
What stood out was the 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. Everyone was always willing to share knowledge, answer questions, and help teams improve their ideas. #BoTH3 also showed how much can be achieved in 2.5 days when different backgrounds come together with 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
For us, the event strengthened our understanding of how defence innovation takes shape when operational needs, technical expertise, and collaboration come together. It also created valuable opportunities for Claudia to speak with key actors from the defence and innovation landscape, contributing directly to her research.
Congratulations to the winning teams for their impressive work and well-deserved recognition.
A special thank you to Leo Exter and Koen Ceulemans for their support and insights, to Anton Dovhobrod and Frederik W. for helping the team sharpen the idea, to Henri-Jérôme Pauwels and Eglė Kruliauskaitė for their guidance and constant support and to Eva Sula for the valuable workshop.
A big thank you as well to Claudia’s teammates. After 2.5 intense days, they became teammates she will always remember.
Thank you to all the military professionals, technicians, experts, mentors, organisers, and participants who contributed their time, knowledge, and energy. The event was exceptionally well organised, with everything in place for teams to focus, build, test, and learn.
𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐬..
