
Interoperability is a cornerstone concept of NATO’s Allied Command Transformation, and is defined by NATO in the following way: “the ability to act together coherently, effectively, and efficiently to achieve Allied objectives.” The effort from NATO member nations, partner nations, and associated organizations to implement interoperability is commonly referred to as federated interoperability, which targets hard-wiring the concept into day zero of any NATO mission.
NATO’s Allied Command Transformation carries out three major events over the course of a year to improve and enable the goal of interoperability. The largest such event is Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise, or in short, “CWIX”.
Over the course of CWIX, NATO and nations test a range of Command & Control capabilities and IT services. The exercise is also used to explore current, near-term, future, and experimental capabilities. At the forefront of the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise is an emphasis placed on using systems that will deployed on any NATO-led operations in the future. In practical terms, it allows NATO, its members, and partners to experiment, test, and de-risk their deployable systems in a controlled environment before their use on any mission.
The framework for Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise is described according to four ‘Xs’.
- Scientists eXplore emerging interoperability standards and solutions through collaborative and innovation activities.
- Engineers eXperiment with new interoperability solutions and assess suitability of near-term implementation.
- Testers eXamine interoperability among fielded and soon to be fielded capabilities and generate scorecards.
- Operational users eXercise interoperability capabilities using a relevant scenario.
Planning for the Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise takes place through four conferences, spread across an annual cycle. The exercise itself is a three-week event led by NATO’s Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz, Poland; but also includes participants carrying out tests from national locations across the classified Combined Federated Battle-Lab network. This year’s iteration of the exercise is schedule to take place from 03-21 June 2024 with 42 participant nations, along with seven observing nations, testing more than 480 capabilities
Interoperability is achieved through participation, collaboration, testing, experimenting, and extensive planning. The outcome is the ability of NATO to coherently, effectively, and efficiently respond to any and all challenges that confront the Alliance.