NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT)

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NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT)

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ACT is at the heart of NATO’s efforts to lead continuous Military Transformation enhancing the Alliance's effectiveness through the development and delivery of training, educations, capabilities, doctrine and concepts.

10/21/2026

STEADFAST DUEL 2026 put ’s Article 5 collective defence plans to the test, challenging Allied command structures to synchronize operations across land, air, maritime, space, and cyberspace.

Scheduled by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)and directed by the NATO Joint Warfare Centre (NATO JWC), the exercise served as a critical venue for operational readiness and warfare development.

Great work by the NATO JWC team in making large-scale exercises an opportunity to test not only how NATO operates today, but also how it needs to adapt for tomorrow.

Read the full exercise wrap-up: https://www.act.nato.int/article/stdu-26-concludes/

10/21/2026

What will deterrence look like by 2050 and who is going to help NATO prepare for it?

The 2026 Deterrence Student Challenge, co-hosted by NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT) and the William & Mary Global Innovation Challenge (WMGIC), is still open.

Undergraduate and graduate students across member and partner nations are invited to submit original research exploring how emerging and disruptive technologies will reshape nuclear and strategic deterrence over the coming decades.

🔗 Apply now: https://natoact.awardsplatform.com

10/20/2026

tests the next generation of military capabilities!
This week, NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT) kicks off a series of live experiments in Latvia 🇱🇻, bringing Allied military operators, engineers and defence industry partners together to test three interconnected initiatives under realistic, contested conditions.

The aim is to bring Allied capabilities together, identify what works and make NATO forces more effective in the field:
🔋Digital Backbone eXperimentation : Stress-testing network resilience, data integrity and communications under disrupted conditions.
🛩️Layered Counter-UAS Initiative : Integrating sensors, electronic warfare, command-and-control systems and counter-drone capabilities to test how they work together as a layered defence.
🎯 Next Generation Targeting : Testing AI-enabled tools and data integration to help Allied forces build a clearer operational picture and make faster, better-informed decisions.

Direct feedback from operators will help industry improve technologies and Allied nations identify what works, what needs to change and what is ready for adoption.

Stay tuned! We'll take you inside the trials and show NATO's experimentation in action.

10/19/2026

Secure communications, reliable data sharing and the ability to make decisions under pressure are essential to NATO's operational advantage.

Digital Backbone eXperimentation or puts these foundations to the test, bringing together systems, networks and technology so Allied forces can operate seamlessly, even when communications are challenged.

Later this month in Latvia, DiBaX26 will focus on establishing connectivity from the moment forces arrive, keeping open links through interference, and integrating data, sensors and AI to sharpen situational awareness.

The trial also brings together two other NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT)'s experimentation projects, Layered Counter-UAS (LCI-X) and Next Generation Targeting (NGT), testing all three concepts against realistic operational demands. Through this, ACT helps drive adoption across the Alliance.

Learn more about DiBaX here: https://www.act.nato.int/article/backbone-nato-digital-transformation-dibax26/

10/18/2026

Modern air defense requires complete convergence, linking sensors, effectors, and command networks across Allies. That is why NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT) runs the Layered Counter-UAS Initiative (LCI-X).

By putting prototypes directly into operators' hands alongside industry partners, LCI-X bridges the gap between field testing and frontline adoption.

Every test generates evidence. Every challenge drives adaptation. Every step brings NATO closer to capabilities that work together in real operational conditions.

And this is only the beginning.

As LCI-X moves into its next phase, the focus remains on what matters most: turning experimentation into adoption, and innovation into battlefield advantage.

10/17/2026

At a time when modern warfare demands greater integration across all domains, NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) plays a critical role in ensuring Allied commanders and headquarters are ready to meet that challenge.

Today in Stavanger, Norway, Major General Jens Arlt assumed command of NATO JWC from Major General Ruprecht von Butler, during a ceremony presided over by Vice Admiral Simon Asquith, Chief of Staff at NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT).

Under Major General von Butler’s leadership, NATO JWC delivered nine major STEADFAST exercises, advancing ’s shift towards training as a connected warfighting system.
“The focus shifted from training individual headquarters in relative isolation, to exercising the Alliance as a connected warfighting system,” Vice Admiral Asquith emphasised.
Through multi-domain exercises, experimentation and NATO ACT’s Audacious Training Initiative, NATO JWC helps turn operational requirements and emerging technologies into practical warfighting capabilities.

As Major General Arlt takes command, this mission continues, strengthening Allied readiness, interoperability and collective defence.

We thank Major General von Butler for his outstanding leadership and welcome Major General Arlt as he takes forward this important mission.

🔗 Read more about NATO JWC's Change of Command: https://www.act.nato.int/?p=14530&preview=true

10/17/2026

How does NATO turn experience from the field into deployed technology?
Through continuous feedback. At NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT), operational insights uncover capability gaps early, set the testing agenda, and keep development locked onto actual military requirements.

In this episode of The Transformation Brief, experts discuss what it takes to close the gap between operational lessons, experimentation, and the delivery of capabilities that give Allied forces an operational advantage.

🎙️ Listen to the conversation:

▶️ YouTube: https://youtu.be/NSo0yy4-eKI
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6EuX5u4NsTGdVd8WLHMjOW?si=nCBR-Ci7RUiSYtWz91bH-A

10/16/2026

Cutting-edge technology means nothing if systems cannot talk to each other.
That is why, through the Layered Counter-UAS Initiative (LCI-X), NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is putting interoperability to the test.

LCI-X brings operators, national defence systems, and industry together to experiment with how sensors, command & control systems, and counter-drone capabilities actually perform as a unified defence shield.

Connected technology. Unified command. One Alliance operating together.

10/15/2026

At NATO Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) in Stavanger, the NATO Command structure is tested against the full complexity of modern conflict, across land, air, maritime, cyber, and space.

Right now, that mission is playing out at scale in STEADFAST DUEL 2026. Mobilizing 8,000 Allied personnel across Europe and North America, NATO’s premier computer-assisted command post exercise tests and operationalizes the Multi-Domain Operations concept and NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT)'s Audacious Training initiative.

Maintaining day-to-day staff operations and support is the JWC's new Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral Jeanette Morang (Royal Netherlands Navy). Rear Admiral Morang also marks a key milestone as the highest-ranking female officer within NATO - Allied Command Transformation (ACT).

“In today’s security environment, adaptation cannot be reactive. At the JWC, our exercises push the frontier of operational realism, leveraging digital innovation and collective readiness so Allied commanders are prepared to act decisively.” - Rear Admiral Jeanette Morang, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, JWC.

10/15/2026

How does a promising tech concept become an operational capability nations can actually deploy? It takes rigorous testing, continuous adaptation, and operational validation.

That is the core mission of NATO’s Innovation Continuum.

The pipeline connects every phase of development:
✅ SPARK: Matching operational challenges with emerging ideas
✅IGNITE & GLOW: Developing, integrating, and testing viable solutions
✅SHINE: Stress-testing technologies in realistic military scenarios

The Innovation Continuum builds evidence to support further development, integration, and adoption by Allies. From identifying military needs to experimentation, and from experimentation toward adoption: that is how NATO moves promising technologies into operational capability.

Read more here: https://www.act.nato.int/article/shine-2026/

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