French Army Technical Section (STAT) Awards Novacium a Contract to Supply High-Capacity Prototype Batteries for Tactical Radios

Novacium was selected based on the performance of its very high-capacity GEN 3 and GEN 4 cylindrical cells, designed for high-capacity battery applications. The contract was awarded at the end of June 2026

MONTREAL and SOLAIZE, France, Sept. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HPQ Silicon Inc . (TSX-V: HPQ , OTCQB: HPQFF , FRA: O08 ) is pleased to inform its shareholders that its strategic partner, NOVACIUM SAS , a French deep-tech company specializing in green engineering of materials for energy applications, has announced that the French Army Technical Section (“STAT”) awarded it a contract [1] at the end of June 2026 for the development and supply of high-capacity prototype batteries to be evaluated in tactical radios. For procedural reasons, the award could not be announced prior to today.

From Initial Evaluation to Contract Award: More Than Eighteen Months of Technical Collaboration

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In August 2024, STAT, the French Army organization responsible for evaluating and qualifying equipment for land forces, contacted Novacium after reviewing published results from cells developed using its silicon-based anode material. The organization sought to evaluate the possibility of integrating Novacium’s cells into the batteries used in its tactical radios.

Following six months of internal development, Novacium’s teams developed two battery prototypes, which were provided to STAT in April 2025. The initial results were conclusive: with comparable form factors and interfaces, energy capacity increased by 23% compared with the reference battery.

Image 1) Photos illustrating the use of Novacium’s high-capacity batteries

Building on these results, in September 2025 Novacium met with France’s Directorate General of Armaments (DGA), Defence Innovation Agency (AID), and STAT to propose a work program to develop very high-capacity prototype batteries.

Several months of discussions followed to refine the program around an ambitious objective: significantly increasing, or potentially doubling, the energy capacity of tactical radio batteries without modifying existing connectors, chargers, or interfaces. This work resulted in a contract award to Novacium at the end of June 2026.

Novacium was selected based on the performance of its very high-capacity GEN 3 and GEN 4 cylindrical cells, designed for high-capacity battery applications. This distinctive energy density made it possible to propose a solution capable of meeting STAT’s objective: significantly increasing the operating time of tactical radios without disrupting existing charging infrastructure, procedures or the logistics chain.

The contract provides for delivery in successive batches, structured around operational field feedback (RETEX). The first batch of prototypes will undergo an evaluation campaign under operational conditions, after which STAT and Novacium will jointly prepare a detailed RETEX. Lessons learned from this evaluation will guide design adjustments before production of a second batch that will better reflect a series-production configuration .