Digital interoperability in the crosshairs

The exercise, which has been organized since 1999 – under the name CWIX since 2011 – assists the participants in meeting NATO’s digital interoperability requirements. This year’s exercise involved 40 countries and international organizations with some 3200 participants and almost 570 capabilities. The record-breaking participation confirms the philosophy that these days, interoperability is gaining in value for the nations, as the ability of military forces to act together coherently, effectively and efficiently in multinational environments is of fundamental importance for every NATO-operation.

On the Distinguished Visitors’ Day of the exercise, Lieutenant General Ferenc Kajári, Deputy Chief, Hungarian Defence Forces Defence Staff saw the main elements of the CWIX, and the national capabilities participating in the exercise. The lieutenant general pointed out that sustaining interoperability – and designing interoperability into new systems for future use – is a very important element of the National Defence and Military Development Program.

“The interoperability of command and control (C2) systems is of vital importance, as the Hungarian Defence Forces accomplish their tasks in cooperation with their allies. The CWIX has a very important role in preparing for this, because it tests the currently used systems of the Hungarian Defence Forces as well as the systems the use of which is planned in the future. The training audience of the exercise has successfully completed the planned test cases, which is another step forward on the road to implementing the military development programs” – said Lieutenant General Kajári.

The systems tested during the exercise span the full spectrum of Communication and Information Systems (CIS) capability, showcasing the currently used capabilities, the ones about to be introduced and those that are in the developmental or experimental stage. Command and Control (C2) systems needed for the conduct of operations in all five domains (Land, Air, Maritime, Cyber and Space) have appeared and keep extending to the CIS systems and services of the Focus Areas.

The participants examined the interoperability of their capabilities by conducting agreed-upon test cases. They paid special attention to compliance with Federated Mission Networking standards, that is, the further development of technologies, processes and the cooperation capability of personnel in the CIS systems of future NATO operations.

The Hungarian Defence Forces were represented at the exercise with a close to 50-member delegation, whose members carried out the tasks under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel László Dózsa, Deputy Chief, Sub-directorate of Deployable Systems and Spectrum Management, HDF Defence Staff CIS and INFOSEC Directorate. The team was composed of the experts of the HDF Defence Staff Capability Development Bureau, the Intelligence Directorate of the Military National Security Service, the HDF Special Operations Command (HDF SOC), the HDF Joint Operations Command, the HDF Cyber and Information Operations Centre (HDF CIOC), the HDF Medical Centre, the HDF 1st Armored Brigade, the HDF Joint Forces Training Centre, the HDF 51st Signal and Headquarters Support Brigade, the HDF 205th Air Defence Regiment, and the MoD ED Co. and Nokia Hungary.

On the national side, one primary objective of the exercise was to implement the formal technical validation of HUNSOFNET, the operational and CIS network of the HDF SOC. Another important objective was to test the Hungarian Tactical Command and Control Information System (HUNTACCIS), which involved the formal technical validation of the software version delivered this May, and the conduct of the tests necessary for the future developments of this software. Besides the technical testing, CWIX makes it possible to educate the experts and provide them with further training, so the personnel of the HDF CIOC further developed their knowledge during the vulnerability analysis of various software products.