The Future of Warfare Is Driving Billions Into Next-Generation Soldier Systems

Projected Market Growth Toward $27.4 Billion by 2035 Highlights the Long-Term Opportunity in Military Modernization

NEW YORK, Oct. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The modern battlefield is changing fast, and soldiers need equipment that can keep pace. Military forces around the world are investing in advanced body armor, night vision, thermal imaging, secure communications, wearable technology and AI-powered systems that help troops see threats sooner and make faster decisions. This is no longer just about giving soldiers better gear. It is about connecting personnel to the intelligence, technology and protection they need to operate in increasingly dangerous environments. Global Market Insights estimates that the global soldier systems market could grow from approximately $14.2 billion in 2025 to $27.4 billion by 2035. That projected growth puts the market firmly on the radar for defense manufacturers and specialized technology companies looking to capitalize on rising military modernization spending. Leading tech companies active this week include: Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX), Intellistake Technologies Corp. (OTCQB: ISTKF) (CSE: ISTK), Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR), Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE: BAH), Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC).

The investment story goes well beyond helmets and protective equipment. Militaries want lighter, smarter and more connected systems that can function under extreme conditions, including environments where GPS signals are disrupted or communications are under attack. That creates opportunities for companies developing advanced optics, tactical networking, AI-assisted battlefield awareness, electronic equipment and next-generation navigation systems. Governments are under pressure to improve troop readiness while adapting to new threats, and replacing outdated equipment is a major part of that effort. For companies able to deliver proven technology that meets military requirements, defense procurement programs can open the door to substantial contracts and longer-term business opportunities. With the market forecast to approach $30 billion over the next decade, soldier systems deserve attention as a growing segment of the global defense industry.

Five Key Growth Drivers for the Global Soldier Systems Market:

• Advanced Soldier Protection: Growing demand for next-generation body armor, ballistic helmets, protective clothing and equipment designed to improve survivability without sacrificing mobility.
• AI-Powered Battlefield Intelligence: Integration of AI-assisted sensors, real-time data analysis and enhanced situational awareness to help troops identify and respond to threats more effectively.
• Next-Generation Communications: Demand for secure tactical radios, encrypted communications, connected battlefield networks and systems that keep personnel coordinated in contested environments.
• Advanced Vision and Navigation: Expanding use of thermal imaging, night vision, augmented-reality displays and navigation technologies that support operations when visibility or GPS access is limited.
• Long-Term Defense Modernization Spending: Government investment in replacing aging equipment and upgrading military capabilities creates potential opportunities for established defense contractors and specialized technology suppliers.
  
  

Market outlook note: Forecasts vary by research provider and market definition. The $27.4 billion figure reflects Global Market Insights' broader soldier systems forecast through 2035; it should not be treated as a guaranteed outcome.

Intellistake Highlights NanoAi's Collaboration With Global Defense Helmet Leader Gentex Corporation - RAILINK^® License Places NanoAi Inside the Gentex Ops-Core^® Ecosystem Powering the Next Generation Connected Soldier Systems; a Market Projected to Reach US$18.9 Billion by 2034 -

Highlights:

• RAILINK System In Hand, Integration Work Beginning: NanoAi has taken physical possession of Gentex's full Ops-Core^® RAILINK^® Power and Data ARC Rail System and has commenced hands-on development work. Over the coming months, NanoAi intends to work directly alongside Gentex's engineering team to integrate its sensing technology into the RAILINK platform, advancing toward a connected, threat-detection-enabled headborne system.
• Multi-Billion Dollar Markets: Third-party estimates place the global soldier systems market at approximately US$12.2 billion in 2025, projected to reach US$18.9 billion by 2034 (Fortune Business Insights); military augmented reality at US$1.7 billion in 2025, projected to reach US$6.8 billion by 2034 (The Insight Partners); and AI and analytics in defense at US$13.95 billion in 2026, projected to reach US$23.5 billion by 2030.
• First Detailed Look at the Gentex Collaboration: Today’s release gives investors the first in-depth view of NanoAi’s licensed development collaboration with Gentex, a defense technology leader with more than 130 years of history serving U.S. and allied forces.
• Inside an Elite Ecosystem: NanoAi is a licensed development collaborator within Gentex Corporation’s Ops-Core^® RAILINK^® ecosystem, which includes established defense technology companies and accessory providers such as SureFire^®, Princeton Tec^™, CORE Survival^®, MOHOC and Advanced Materials and Devices (AMAD).
• The Helmet Is Becoming a Platform: The Company believes the military helmet is undergoing the most significant transformation in its history; from passive protection into a connected, AI-enabled computing and sensing platform; and that NanoAi is positioned to supply one of that platform’s most critical new capabilities.
• Detecting What No Human Sense Can Perceive: NanoAi’s proprietary sensing technology is designed to detect explosives, ammunition and narcotics at standoff distances; in real time and without physical contact; across wearable, helmet-mounted, drone, robotic, vehicle and fixed platforms.
• Transaction: Upon completion of the proposed acquisition, NanoAi would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intellistake. Completion remains subject to the conditions described in the Company’s August 4, 2026 news release.
  
  

Intellistake Technologies Corp. (CSE: ISTK) (OTCQB: ISTKF) (FSE: E41) ("Intellistake" or the "Company"), today unveiled a detailed look at the licensed development collaboration between NanoAi Technologies Inc. (“NanoAi”), the subject of the Company’s previously announced proposed acquisition, and Gentex Corporation (“Gentex”), a global leader in advanced headborne protection and situational awareness solutions, whose Ops-Core^® platforms are among the most widely recognized in modern defense.

Gentex Corporation: More Than a Century of Expertise in Headborne Systems - Gentex Corporation has spent more than 130 years developing the most advanced products and solutions for elite defense, law enforcement and security forces around the world, with operations across the United States, Europe and Australia. Through its Ops-Core^® brand, Gentex develops advanced lightweight headborne systems that protect the operator while serving as the integration point for mission-critical technologies. When the most demanding users in the world add technology to their headborne system, Gentex platforms are the top choice.

The RAILINK Ecosystem: Power and Data at the Edge of the Fight - Modern helmets increasingly carry cameras, night-vision systems, communications equipment, displays and sensors; devices that have historically demanded their own batteries, cables and interfaces for each piece of equipment, adding significant weight and complexity. Gentex’s RAILINK^® Power and Data ARC Rail System solves this challenge by integrating power and data directly into the helmet’s accessory rail, allowing compatible devices to share power and communicate through a single headborne platform. The architecture was designed and tested with extensive U.S. military user input.

NanoAi’s license provides the technical framework to develop its sensing technology for integration with RAILINK-equipped platforms, placing NanoAi inside an ecosystem of established defense technology collaborators and giving it a defined pathway onto one of the industry’s most respected headborne architectures.

NanoAi has taken physical possession of Gentex’s full RAILINK system for hands-on development work, marking a significant step forward in the collaboration. Over the coming months, NanoAi intends to work directly alongside Gentex’s engineering team to integrate its sensing technology into the RAILINK platform, advancing toward a fully connected, threat-detection-enabled headborne system.

From Protection to Platform - Intellistake believes the military helmet is undergoing the most significant transformation in its history. For a century, the helmet had one job: protect the soldier’s head. Today it is evolving into a connected node on the battlefield network; sensing, computing and communicating in real time. In the Company’s view, the value of the headborne platform will increasingly be defined not by what it blocks, but by what it sees, hears, processes and shares.

NanoAi: Giving the Platform a New Sense - Olfaction at Nanoscale - NanoAi’s proprietary sensing technology is designed to detect explosives, ammunition and narcotics at standoff distances; identifying threats that cannot be seen, in real time, without physical contact. Development is directed at wearable, helmet-mounted, drone, robotic, vehicle and fixed platforms, incorporating artificial intelligence, sensor networking and geolocation capabilities intended to stream actionable threat information to operators and command teams the moment it is detected.

The Company believes the proposed acquisition would secure NanoAi at the stage that matters most: license in hand, ahead of commercialization, while the architecture of the connected soldier is still being defined. NanoAi’s technology is in active development and has not yet been commercially deployed; early positioning that, in Intellistake’s view, is the opportunity itself.

Sensing Plus Intelligence: The Intellistake Thesis - Defense platforms are protected by formidable barriers to entry; qualification cycles, institutional trust and demanding operational requirements. NanoAi’s licensed collaboration provides an established position inside one of the industry’s most respected ecosystems. Intellistake brings the other half of the equation: production deployments of AI-agent systems. Sensors generate data; intelligence software turns data into decisions.

The Company believes this combination of sensing hardware and AI software has applications across headborne, drone, robotic, vehicle and fixed platforms; and represents a differentiated entry point into AI-enabled defense. CONTINUED… Read this full press release and more news for Intellistake Technologies at: https://www.intellistake.com/ir

In other recent developments and happenings in the tech/AI/defense industries include:

Gentex Corporation (NASDAQ: GNTX) and Randolph Engineering recently announced the launch of the Thunderbirds x Gentex x Randolph Sunglasses Collection, a limited-edition collection that combines Randolph’s iconic American-made Aviator with Gentex’s advanced optical technology, featuring the same silver mirror lens technology flown by the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, known worldwide as the Thunderbirds.

Limited to 600 individually produced pairs, the collection celebrates American craftsmanship, military aviation heritage, and decades of innovation supporting the men and women who serve.

Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) returns to Seoul on October 22–23, 2026, for its second annual pop-up, giving Korean fans and partners exclusive first access to its Fall / Winter 2026 merchandise collection. In October 2025, the inaugural Seoul pop-up welcomed nearly 5,000 visitors, and Korea continues to serve as one of Palantir’s largest international markets for merchandise. South Korea is one of Palantir’s largest commercial markets outside the United States, with growing momentum as organizations use Palantir’s software to tackle consequential challenges. Korean companies are global leaders, shaping industries and supply chains around the world. Sovereign AI enables these institutions to harness AI on their own terms while retaining control over the data, operations, and expertise that underpin their global competitiveness.

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (NYSE: BAH) has released a new report, The Offensive Frontier: AI as the Attacker, based on its Cyber Weapon Index (CWI), which tests the capabilities of rapidly advancing AI models and assesses how those capabilities are actively reshaping the offensive cyber threat landscape.

Booz Allen tested 18 advanced U.S. and Chinese AI models and confirmed that a leading frontier model can now autonomously execute end-to-end intrusion, from gaining initial access to taking full control of a network without human guidance. This finding marks a critical shift from AI-assisted hacking to autonomous cyber operations.

To address the evolving challenges of detecting and defeating unmanned aerial systems at extended ranges, Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) will develop next-generation air-breathing propulsion for the U.S. Army, significantly enhancing the range and air defense capabilities of the Army's eXtended Range Counter-Unmanned Aircraft System (XRC).

A leader in air-breathing tactical propulsion, Northrop Grumman will develop and produce solid fuel ramjet propulsion technology for integration into XRC missile prototypes under this $18.8 million contract with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Aviation & Missile Center. Unlike solid rocket motors, which utilize propellant containing fuel and a chemical oxidizer, solid fuel ramjets use atmospheric oxygen as the oxidizer for the fuel during flight, freeing internal volume for additional fuel. The result is a more efficient propulsion system that delivers greater range and energy, enabling engagement of highly maneuverable aerial threats at safer distances from protected forces.

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