The primary focus of the exercise is to enable command and control between the NATO Command Structure and the assigned forces of the Nations, ensuring a secure, robust and agile network that supports NATO’s readiness and operational effectiveness. Through this annual event, NATO Allies remain united and ready to defend the Alliance, by honing CIS skills and capabilities required to combat increasingly complex security threats.
The NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) provided fundamental foundations to facilitate Steadfast Cobalt, acting as the overall federated CIS technical design authority. This included coordinating interoperability tests technical evaluation, managing the mission network services, providing configuration tools and assisting the service engineers of the participating Nations. Any interoperability issues that were identified during the event received specialized technical assessment and solutions from NCIA experts, to ensure the mission continued unaffected by technical challenges.
"Steadfast Cobalt is a mission preparation exercise where all involved entities verify and validate connectivity, and more importantly, assure that all information exchange requirements are covered in order to enable Commanders’ command and control execution," said Andres Bulk, Interoperability Test Director for the exercise and Senior Interoperability Engineer at NCIA.
For the first time, NCI Academy experts also supported by providing coaching to deployed NATO war fighters in Italy and Türkiye. Their contributions delivered hands-on expertise across a range of communications capabilities such as, ultra high frequency tactical satellite and high capacity line-of-sight systems. Through these efforts, the NCI Academy continues to bridge the gap between individual learning and collective readiness, ensuring NATO forces are training as they fight.
NCIA’s CIS Support Unit (CSU) based in Brunssum, Netherlands, cooperated closely with technical teams to provide static CIS support, crucial to the successful and effective operation of this complex exercise.
The scale and scope of Steadfast Cobalt 2025 underscores NATO’s prioritization of strengthening CIS defence capabilities across the Alliance, so that Nations stand ready to operate together with efficiency.
Photo sourced from the NATO Communications and Information Systems Group (NCISG).