NATO

Experimentation and Wargaming Online Press Room

The Experimentation and Wargaming Branch (EWB), formerly Operational Experimentation Branch, is a compact, yet versatile organisation within NATO’s Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, based in Norfolk, Virginia, USA.

EWB delivers transformation to the Alliance through the conduct of experiments and wargames.

Experiments are controlled investigations to gain evidence in support of developing new concepts, ideas, and capabilities, along the stages of information discovery, hypothesis testing and final validation. Experimentation helps to reduce uncertainty, identify solutions that may not be clear through study and analysis alone, and evaluate innovations objectively.

Wargaming includes the application of scenario-based models in which the outcome and sequence of events affect, and are affected by the decisions made by the players (two or more opposing sides). We strive for a wargaming capability and practice that enables NATO’s competitive edge today and into the future, characterized by creation, discovery, and exploitation of opportunities in a fail-safe environment using analytical rigor to inform political decision-making and military actions at the strategic, operational and tactical levels.

EWB plans, designs, conducts, and analyses experiments and wargames with partners from the NATO Command and Force Structure, Nations, Research & Academic Institutions and Industry.