When a company proves it can do what incumbent suppliers said was impossible, it doesn’t just win a contract, it rewrites the rules of an entire market. HPQ Silicon’s partner Novacium has achieved exactly that: developing prototype batteries in collaboration with the French Army’s Technical Section (STAT) that target a significant capacity increase over legacy systems, in an application where the previous supplier indicated the performance targets were not achievable within existing constraints. HPQ holds a 36.8% equity interest in Novacium and exclusive North American commercialization rights to the silicon-based anode technology that made this possible. The collaboration, which began in January 2025, is progressing under a formal agreement with STAT and now positions both companies with a technical reference that could support future discussions with NATO-affiliated stakeholders.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Legacy Disrupted: When STAT asked the incumbent French military battery supplier to lighten soldier loads by increasing capacity, the answer was effectively “impossible” within the existing system. Novacium proposed an alternative and, using silicon-enhanced anode materials, has produced prototypes that STAT is evaluating based on a reported capacity improvement of about 23% versus the reference battery, as discussed by management.
- STAT Validation: The French Army’s Technical Section doesn’t care about marketing decks or connections. STAT evaluates one thing: does the battery make the soldier’s mission more effective. Entering into this collaboration and prototype program with STAT means Novacium’s technology is being evaluated against one of the highest technical bars in European defense procurement.
- NATO Pathway: The battery format developed with STAT is, according to management, one design iteration away from NATO-standard compatibility. Bernard Tourillon has indicated on-record that comparable NATO requirements could represent a market large enough to keep “many 50-ton plants per year” occupied, and Novacium now has an official French Army technical collaboration that can serve as a reference point in those discussions.
- Protocol Payoff: The collaboration with STAT was disclosed publicly only after Novacium obtained authorization to name STAT and use related imagery in its materials. That timing reflects military disclosure protoco, and functions as a visiting card that helps position Novacium as a credible French defense technology supplier with potential for sovereign manufacturing capability.
- Commercial Proof: Initial STAT prototypes have already been delivered. Phase one field testing is expected to follow in the near term. If evaluation confirms expected performance the program can advance to subsequent prototype refinements and, subject to military processes, potential procurement. The company is no longer proving whether the technology can be built; it is demonstrating the ability to deliver it into real-world defence evaluation programs.
STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS
For 20 years, defense battery supply chains prioritized cost optimization and centralized production. That worked, until it didn’t. Today, soldiers in the field can carry large numbers of batteries to complete a 24-hour mission because legacy chemistries have reached practical performance ceilings. The trade-offs are brutal: more batteries mean less water, less ammunition, less mobility. And when Western militaries asked incumbents to solve the problem, the answer was often to “upgrade your entire system”, code for solutions that did not meet the requirement within existing platforms.
Novacium’s silicon-based anode technology is designed to break that constraint. By aiming to deliver materially higher capacity in the same form factor, using the same charging infrastructure, Novacium is working to prove that the old way isn’t the only way. The company controls the advanced material, controls the manufacturing process, and is developing a model that can support sovereign production in France, Canada, or the United States. In an era where supply chain security is national security, that’s not just a feature; it is a central part of the value proposition.
The timing is important. European defence industrial capacity is being rebuilt. NATO allies are prioritizing interoperability and sovereign supply chains. Canada has publicly discussed ambitions to significantly expand drone fleets. And Novacium is emerging as one of the few companies that can credibly enter those conversations with a disclosed French Army collaboration in hand, STAT’s name and logo authorized for use in presentations, and silicon-anode-based technology that is already being evaluated in some of the most demanding applications on earth. The market isn’t theoretical, procurement programs are already underway.
CEO Bernard Tourillon:
“This is massive. We’ve been working at this for a long time, and the fact that we’ve gotten this contract with STAT for prototype radio batteries is a heck of a third-party validation on Novacium’s expertise to make the lithium-ion silicon-based batteries that militaries are looking for. The legacy supplier said it was impossible. We did it at the prototype stage. And now we have the capability to say to NATO allies: we’ve made batteries that work within the standard constraints, that operate in all those applications, and we’ve done it with a sovereign manufacturing pathway in mind. That’s not just a milestone — that’s a market position we are working to build.”
INVESTOR TAKEAWAY
HPQ Silicon’s 36.8% stake in Novacium and exclusive North American rights are becoming increasingly strategic as concrete defence programs move forward. The STAT collaboration validates that silicon-based anode technology can be applied in one of the hardest use cases — military tactical radios in field conditions. It confirms Novacium can design, prototype, and deliver batteries for evaluation by one of the most demanding customers in the world. And it provides the kind of technical reference needed to pursue discussions with NATO allies, Canadian defence procurement stakeholders, and segments of the multi-billion-dollar military battery market where performance, sovereignty, and supply security are gaining weight as primary buying criteria.
The company is progressing from “can we build it” toward “how do we scale it if customer demand materializes.” With Canadian federal grant funding already being deployed into battery and materials development, commercial discussions underway in drones and radios, and a visible pathway to NATO-related markets through recognized French defence programs, HPQ is moving beyond pure technology risk and into execution and scale-up risk in a market where legacy players themselves have acknowledged the limits of current solutions.
Last modified: September 22, 2026
