STAVANGER, Norway – Exercise STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 has concluded after testing the next rotation of NATO’s Allied Reaction Force (ARF) across a wide range of crisis response missions.
Scheduled by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), conducted by Allied Joint Force Command Naples (JFCNP), and directed by NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), the exercise brought together personnel from multiple NATO countries to refine readiness, interoperability, and joint warfighting cohesion.
Throughout the exercise, training audiences confronted crisis scenarios outside of NATO’s traditional area of responsibility.
The scenario was designed to enable theatre synchronization at the joint task force level, integrating joint actions amongst the land, maritime, air, special operations, cyberspace, space, and logistics components. This approach reflects NATO’s efforts to prepare the ARF for rapid employment in complex multi-domain environments.
Led by NATO Rapid Deployable Corps Italy, the ARF is a core part of the NATO New Force Model and supports the implementation of the Concept for Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area. It is a high-readiness joint force able to deploy rapidly when directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).
The STEADFAST DAGGER exercise prepares the next ARF rotation and provides a venue for testing new concepts that advance NATO’s ongoing transformation.
Major General Ruprecht von Butler, Commander Joint Warfare Centre and the Officer Directing the Exercise, explained the highlights of STEADFAST DAGGER 2025.
“First is the certification of the Allied Reaction Force and its components in the achievement of multi-domain operations outside of SACEUR’s area of responsibility. Second, experimentation and warfare development, which includes incorporating lessons identified from Ukraine, increased realism and dynamism to react to the needs of the Allied Reaction Force and its components, and the advancement of command-and-control platforms such as SitaWare and MAVEN. Third, we strengthened our relationships with NATO’s partners, through their attendance and participation in a wargame. All of this results in an increase in the Alliance’s and the Allied Reaction Force’s readiness profile. Overall, we have strengthened Allied capabilities and partnerships.”
Training a High-Readiness Joint Force
Exercise STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 supported training for land, maritime, air, special operations, and logistics elements assigned to the 2026 rotation of the Allied Reaction Force.
Key training audiences included the French 3rd Division as the land component command, the French Joint Force Air Component Command, the United Kingdom Strike Force as the maritime component command, the United Kingdom Special Operations Component Command, and the French Joint Logistics Support Group. All played a central role in rehearsing rapid integration and multi-domain coordination.
These commands were required to confront realistic operational challenges such as dispersed threats, contested communications, and complex civil-military interactions. The application of next-generation command-and-control tools was an important part of this year’s training design.
First is the certification of the Allied Reaction Force and its components in the achievement of multi-domain operations outside of SACEUR’s area of responsibility. Second, experimentation and warfare development, which includes incorporating lessons identified from Ukraine, increased realism and dynamism to react to the needs of the Allied Reaction Force and its components, and the advancement of command-and-control platforms such as SitaWare and MAVEN. Third, we strengthened our relationships with NATO’s partners, through their attendance and participation in a wargame. All of this results in an increase in the Alliance’s and the Allied Reaction Force’s readiness profile. Overall, we have strengthened Allied capabilities and partnerships.
– Major General Ruprecht von Butler
Commander Joint Warfare Centre
and the Officer Directing the Exercise
Advancing NATO Transformation
As Allied Command Transformation’s training focal point, the Joint Warfare Centre used Exercise STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 to strengthen NATO warfare development and accelerate transformation.
The exercise incorporated evolving concepts such as multi-domain effects integration, whole-of-government cooperation, and advanced decision support tools. It also encouraged participating commands to test new staff processes, validate procedures, and identify opportunities for improvement.
This work supports Allied Command Transformation’s mandate to prepare the Alliance for future challenges. Through exercises such as STEADFAST DAGGER, the Alliance adapts its operational approach to match a rapidly changing security environment.
During the exercise, the JWC-led Grey Cell replicated non-NATO states and organizations the training audience could expect to encounter in this complex multidimensional scenario.
The cell also facilitated the integration of real-world staff from international humanitarian and cultural protection organizations. Entities supporting STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 included the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Blue Shield International/Swansea University, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO).
Collaboration Across the Alliance
Nearly 1,200 military and civilian personnel participated in the exercise.
Many served within Exercise Control teams at the Joint Warfare Centre, representing NATO Command and Force Structure headquarters, NATO centres of excellence, national commands, and partners. Their input helped ensure that the training environment accurately reflected real operational pressures.
The breadth of participation illustrates the Alliance’s commitment to collective readiness. It has also strengthened relationships among warfighters and planners who will operate together during future deployments.
Colonel Kevin Rafferty, the JWC’s Deputy Chief of Staff Exercises, Training and Innovation and the Chief of the Exercise Control, highlighted that STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 was instrumental in advancing NATO’s Audacious Training programme.
“Exercise STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 has been designed and delivered under the Audacious Training principles of ‘Train to Operate, Train to Deter, and Train to Win.’ Lessons from the Ukraine conflict have been incorporated, and the JWC method of delivery is a hybrid of a scripted plan and dynamic injects, enabling Exercise Control to react and counter-react to the ARFs actions.”
Colonel Rafferty added: “I was impressed that the ARF and its new components started the exercise at the level they had achieved at the end of STEADFAST DAGGER 2024. This suggests that the campaigning approach is delivering a more substantive change to the readiness of the NATO Command and Force Structures, which strengthens the Alliance’s deterrence.”
Strengthening Deterrence and Defence
The out-of-area design of STEADFAST DAGGER reflects NATO’s 360-degree approach to security. Preparing the Allied Reaction Force for crises beyond the Euro-Atlantic region strengthens the Alliance’s ability to address threats wherever they arise and to protect the security of NATO states.
The lessons identified during Exercise STEADFAST DAGGER will feed directly into NATO warfare development. They will inform updates to concepts, doctrine, planning approaches, and the continued evolution of the Allied Reaction Force. This process strengthens Alliance forces’ ability to act decisively under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe.
Next up: Analysis and Planning
As STEADFAST DAGGER 2025 concludes, Allied Command Transformation and the Joint Warfare Centre will lead a structured analysis phase. This will include data collection, senior leader reflections, and a formal lessons report.
These products will help prepare the 2026 rotation of the Allied Reaction Force for real-world challenges and will contribute to the continued modernization of NATO’s operational capabilities.
The Joint Warfare Centre now begins preparations for upcoming exercises in the STEADFAST series, further strengthening NATO’s readiness and delivering realistic, demanding, and transformational training for the Alliance.
