National and allied command and control – harmony in focus
Text: Lieutenant Colonel András Somlai-Kiss | Photo: by the author and jftc.nato.int | 09:48 July 2, 2026In 2026 again, outstanding significance was attached to the NATO Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exploration, Experimentation, Examination Exercise (CWIX) held in Bydgoszcz, Poland with the objective of testing and perfecting the interoperability of coalition and national command and control (C2) systems of allied and partner nations across all domains of operations.
Organized at NATO’s Joint Force Training Centre, the three-week exercise involved 16 military organizations of the Hungarian Defence Forces with altogether close to 60 personnel, who executed the tasks assigned to them in the simulated operational scenario, primarily demonstrating their capability of connecting with NATO’s Federated Mission Networking.
The exercise provided the member states with the opportunity to have their differently developed technologies already integrable in a safe testing environment, before being used on real-world missions. CWIX enables NATO and partner countries to react to global security challenges as a single, united technological shield.
The most important areas of the exercise were as follows:
- C4ISR systems: harmonization of commanders’ C4 and ISR networks.
- Cyber security: protection of shared military networks against modern cyber threats.
- New technologies: testing the use of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems in warfare.
- Multi-domain operations: further integration of land, air, maritime, cyber and space defence systems.
This year’s CWIX broke all previous records with regard to its size and complexity. More than 4000 registered participants, 46 nations exercising in an area of 27,500 m2, stationed in 24 interconnected tents, 8 kilometers of fiber optic cable, 6 kilometers of copper cabling, close to 32,000 scheduled trials conducted in 19 focus areas…
Besides the successfully performed tests, the Hungarian service members were able to integrate the Hungarian Tactical Command and Control Information System (HUNTACCIS) into a shared NATO platform, thereby further strengthening the Hungarian Defence Forces’ interoperability with allied systems.
The CWIX exercise series was launched in 1999, at first running under the name Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration. It received its present form and name in 2009, and this year’s exercise was the 17th one conducted under this designation.
The significance of the exercise series is shown by the fact that the Distinguished Visitors’ Day was held with never-before seen interest: close to 350 military and civilian high-ranking leaders from NATO and partner countries arrived to visit the event. The delegation of the Hungarian Defence Forces was headed by Brigadier General Balázs Szloszjár. For the first time this year, the Székesfehérvár-based Headquarters Multinational Division Centre (HQ MND-C) also participated in the exercise as a Hungary-based NATO command element.
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