STAVANGER, Norway – The Main Events List/Main Incidents List (MEL/MIL) Scripting Workshop for NATO Exercise STEADFAST DETERRENCE 2025 (STDC25) concluded at the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) on April 11, 2025.
STEADFAST DETERENCE 2025 aims to strengthen NATO’s deterrence capabilities at the operational and strategic levels, focusing on multi-domain readiness in the Euro-Atlantic region, based on a multiple joint operations area training scenario.
Nearly 500 civilian and military personnel participated in the two-week workshop, which is the final step in the exercise content development process before the exercise kicks off in May.
Scheduled and coordinated by Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and directed by the JWC, the computer-assisted command post exercise (CAX/CPX) will make history as the first-ever exercise to train and certify SHAPE as a NATO Strategic Warfighting Headquarters.
The development of SHAPE as a warfighting headquarters marks a paradigm shift in how it operates, with a focus on enhancing NATO’s warfighting readiness and collective defence, while adapting to the evolving security and technological landscapes.
The United States European Command (USEUCOM) is also a primary training audience of STEADFAST DETERRENCE 2025; USEUCOM will train alongside SHAPE during this exercise, further deepening the relationship between these two strategic headquarters. This will enable them to align more effectively with NATO under the framework of the NATO Force Model.
In addition, the exercise will seek to rehearse the key interactions between the national military representatives of all 32 NATO members during strategic defence plan activation.
The JWC’s lead planner for STDC25, Wing Commander Alan, explained that planning for STEADFAST DETERRENCE 2025 has been underway since the autumn of 2023.
It really makes us proud to plan and deliver an exercise of this scale, which is truly at the heart of NATO’s warfighting transformation.
STEADFAST DETERRENCE 2025 is one of NATO’s most complex exercises this year. It will enhance synergies with USEUCOM and across all allies, while strengthening NATO’s readiness posture across multiple domains and operational environments.
JWC Lead planner for STDC25
