During Exercise STEADFAST DUEL 2025, NATO’s three joint force commands, supported by the theatre component commands, will exercise regional defence plans and conduct training in large-scale multi-domain operations.
STAVANGER, Norway – Exercise STEADFAST DUEL 2025 is NATO’s largest computer-assisted command post exercise (CAX/CPX) this year. It is NATO’s first Article 5 exercise with all 32 member states, including its newest members Sweden and Finland.
Scheduled by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and directed by the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), STEADFAST DUEL 2025 is designed to support NATO’s move towards stronger and more orchestrated multi-domain warfare at the operational and higher tactical levels.
The exercise will demonstrate NATO’s ability to train more realistically, managing a 24/7 battlespace and involving a range of theatre and tactical components in addition to the three NATO joint force commands: Brunssum, Naples, and Norfolk.
Exercise STEADFAST DUEL 2025 involves 16 training audiences from NATO Command and Force Structure headquarters and takes place in multiple locations across Europe and the United States, bringing together approximately 7,000 military and civilian personnel from the Alliance.
Joint warfighting capabilities, increased realism, AI-enabled training platforms
Major General Ruprecht von Butler, Commander JWC, said: “Our increasingly complex security environment requires that we deliver more realistic and audacious exercises for the NATO Alliance. With the scale and scope managed by STEADFAST DUEL 2025, we will do exactly that.”
Exercise STEADFAST DUEL 2025 is based on the 360-Degree Multi-Domain Setting (360° MDS), created and developed by the JWC, which depicts the complex and evolving real-world security challenges. It will exercise the entirety of NATO’s Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA) family of plans.
STEADFAST DUEL 2025 is a very realistic multi-domain exercise for the warfighter, executed in a simulated environment to strengthen our collective deterrence and defence. It provides a perfect venue to exercise NATO’s strategic and operational command system and integration of the member states. It will integrate real-world regional planning and cutting-edge technologies. It will also contribute to warfare development, help to operationalize transformational concepts and assess a range of Allied doctrines and procedures.
Major General Ruprecht von Butler
Commander JWC
The JWC Commander highlighted the significance of the convergence with the U.S. strategic commands in addressing evolving security challenges.
“The U.S. Army Europe and Africa will conduct Exercise AVENGER TRIAD 2025 alongside STEADFAST DUEL 2025. By linking these exercises, we are stronger in our deterrence across air, land, sea, cyberspace and space. STEADFAST DUEL 2025 is arguably NATO’s most strategic exercise this year, and it will ensure that the Alliance is ready for the fight tonight and tomorrow,” Major General von Butler concluded.
Key “firsts” and planners’ perspectives
Exercise STEADFAST DUEL 2025 marks two standout firsts: it is the first operational-level exercise to simultaneously train NATO’s three joint force commands (Brunssum, Naples, and Norfolk) and it is the first STEADFAST-series exercise to test a 24/7 battle rhythm.
Almost two years in the making, the operational- and tactical-level exercise is aligned with NATO’s broader efforts to deliver tangible deterrence, maintain readiness, and strengthen military capabilities and interoperability.
The primary training audience of the exercise is Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum, led by General Ingo Gerhartz.
Colonel Michael, the JWC’s Programme Director for the exercise, said: “Planning and executing an exercise with this scale and scope requires a coherent team that possesses the ability to adapt to the development in the real world. This adaptation has occurred at an unprecedented pace during the development of the STEADFAST DUEL 2025, and the team has shown the required flexibility and willingness to adjust the exercise.”
Lieutenant Colonel Ralph, the JWC’s main planner for the exercise, explained what it was like to coordinate STEADFAST DETERRENCE 2025 across the various NATO headquarters as well as NATO Centres of Excellence, member states, NATO’s top senior mentors, and civilian agencies.
“We have a new approach with the 24/7 battle rhythm, exercising more realistically and training as we fight. An event of this size needs the support of the entire JWC, and recent European history adds plenty of challenges and learning points to be exploited. The JWC has worked hard to deliver an exercise that meets emerging threats to NATO security.”
Experimentation activities
During the exercise, Headquarters Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (HQ SACT) will conduct a range of experimentation activities across the spectrum of doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities and interoperability. These include experimentation and operation of a digital command and control system, which incorporates large language models and artificial intelligence, accelerating digital transformation to a multi-domain enabled Alliance.
The STEADFAST DUEL exercise series is linked to the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR)-led exercise AVENGER TRIAD, involving the U.S. Army’s V Corps.
In addition to Exercise STEADFAST DETERRENCE 2025 conducted earlier this year, STEADFAST DUEL 2025 also informs the planning processes of Exercise STEADFAST WOLF 2026 – NATO’s largest chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) wargame exercise.
NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) was established on October 23, 2003, in Stavanger, Norway.
The JWC is NATO’s training focal point for joint operational- and strategic-level warfare, responsible for delivering NATO’s largest multi-domain exercises at these levels.
The JWC acts as a hub for Allied Command Transformation and Allied Command Operations to further advance NATO’s transformation.
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