Innovation is the process of creating new value from an original or novel idea. At the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise (CWIX), engineers and operators worked together to incubate innovation – embracing what is novel, unconventional, and untested in order to improve interoperability and contribute to cross-domain data exchange.
Throughout the CWIX planning cycle, the Innovation Working Group was tasked with determining which of the nearly 500 capabilities at CWIX best demonstrated breakthrough technologies or tools to epitomize the innovative spirit of the exercise. These selected capabilities must clear a competitive standard for CWIX’s “Innovation Spotlights” – which distinguished visitors from NATO and nations explored during their site visit on June 19th. Featured below are four capabilities that fuel progress within their respective domains (Space and Cyber), while contributing to a Multi-Domain Operations-enabled Alliance.
Capabilities that Increase Collaboration with Cyber Domain
Two Cyber capabilities, together referred to as the Cyber Message Standard, are at CWIX24 with ambitious plans to improve information exchange across domains. This collaborative capability will conduct an experiment with proposed cyber extension to NATO APP-11 Message Text Formats.
These formats are used to exchange structured textual information between allied forces and within national forces. They are used in NATO operations and exercises to instantly exchange relevant information in a standard format that can be easily processed by a command and control system.
By extending the existing message format into the cyber domain, this capability enables the exchange of defensive cyber data, analysis, and response plans. By utilizing the NATO Data Lake as the multi-domain transport mechanism, with cyber data included, capabilities such as these enhance collective cyber defence. More broadly, more robust cyber capabilities contribute to a Multi-Domain Operations-enabled Alliance.
Capabilities that Optimize Space Data Integration
Two paired Space capabilities – Tactical Unified Data Library and SitSat – integrate the Space domain into the delivery of NATO’s core tasks.
On-site at CWIX24, we spoke with Robert Kroeger of Allied Command Transformation’s Space Branch. “As stated in the recent Overarching Space Policy, NATO is not aiming to be an autonomous actor in Space,” explained Mr. Kroeger. “However, the Alliance needs to rely on robust, relevant and integrated Space related data, products and services to provide Space Domain Awareness at all times.”
The capability team endeavours to achieve the following three testing objectives: integrate Air, Space, and Cyber systems exposing multi-domain data; contribute to Air situational awareness by providing Airfield data; and refine the Space operational picture by identifying and distributing satellite position and overflight data.
When these capabilities are de-risked and implemented, the chief operational benefit is seamless data flow from enterprise to tactical data libraries and the ability to use tactical data in a Denied, Disconnected, Intermittent and Limited Bandwidth environment. In a contested domain, such as Space, where communications are interrupted by limited bandwidth and unreliable, or absent, connectivity to the internet, situational awareness is vital.
Enhanced data flow addresses this problem by equipping Commanders with more accurate information to inform tactical movements. “This information needs to be curated, verified, protected and adapted to the right user at the right time (e.g. commanders, operational communities and various users),” said Mr. Kroeger. “This can only be achieved through the provision of data – from national, partners, international organisations and commercial – through capabilities such as the ones tested here at CWIX24.”
Ultimately, the Space capabilities tested at CWIX will contribute to sharper targeting and mission planning, due to the enhanced ability to observe enemy locations.
During the three weeks of CWIX testing in June, multinational teams saw incremental progress – they tried, failed, fixed, and tried again until they achieved breakthroughs in innovation and interoperability. CWIX24 was a proving ground for the command and control capabilities NATO needs tomorrow to remain at the tactical edge and keep its one billion members safe.