Multinational Exercise Tests Secure Battlefield Data Sharing
A ten-day NATO-linked exercise in Dorset tested whether different military systems can securely exchange information.
Updated on Nov. 8, 2026 in Cybersecurity
The Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI) 2.0 ran for ten days at the Defence Battlelab in Winfrith, Dorset, with more than 60 partners. Systematic tested its SitaWare command-and-control software and built a gateway connecting it to the EFDI Data Backbone.
Why it matters
The exercise aimed to ensure that NATO's national systems and capabilities can work together rather than operate as isolated contributions. Interoperability of this kind is central to coordinated allied defence.
The exercise lasted ten days and involved more than 60 partners, with participating allies demonstrating integration of most data types on the Backbone by its end. The exact dates and which data types remained unintegrated were not specified.
The players
Systematic
Systematic is a defence software company whose SitaWare command-and-control platform was tested during the exercise.
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the transatlantic military alliance whose allies participated in the exercise.
The details
The gateway was built on site within a matter of days to connect SitaWare to the EFDI Data Backbone, a common digital architecture that lets different military systems exchange information even when they use different software. Testing covered sensing, decision-making, communications, logistics and military effects.
Timeline
The ten-day EFDI 2.0 exercise was held at the Dorset Innovation Park in Winfrith (exact dates not specified).
Further testing of the architecture is expected in spring 2027 during Steadfast Defender.
Big Picture
The exercise builds toward the interoperability testing scheduled for Steadfast Defender in spring 2027, extending the alliance's push to link national military systems through shared data architecture.
The work shows how different military systems can be made to exchange information securely even when built on different software. For the public, it signals how allied defence capabilities are being tested to work together.
The takeaway
Making different military systems share information securely, even across different software, is a practical prerequisite for coordinated allied defence. The gateway built in days shows that interoperability can be achieved quickly when architecture is shared.
What happens next
Further testing of the architecture is expected during Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exercise 27 and Steadfast Defender in spring 2027.
Further reading
For more on how secure data systems are tested and defended, explore Cybersecurity coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Dorset Echo.
