Stavanger, NORWAY – On October 19, 2023, NATO successfully concluded collective defence exercise STEADFAST JUPITER 2023, which took place at 27 locations across Europe and North America.
Directed by the Joint Warfare Centre (JWC), STEADFAST JUPITER 2023 is NATO’s largest and most complex computer-assisted command post exercise (CAX/CPX) to date.
Nearly 7,000 military and civilian personnel from NATO and partner countries participated in the CAX/CPX designed to test NATO’s defence posture, warfighting readiness, and multi-domain operational capabilities – the integration of land, air, maritime, cyberspace and space to achieve orchestrated effects.
From the initial planning in 2021, through the 10-day execution phase, which kicked off on October 10, and to the upcoming After-Action Review, effective collaboration among diverse stakeholders has played a crucial role in the success of STEADFAST JUPITER 2023.
The four-level exercise involved 24 training audiences, including SHAPE, Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFC Brunssum) as the primary training audience, Allied Joint Force Command Naples, Allied Air Command, Allied Land Command and Allied Maritime Command and Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, as well as the NATO Response Force 2024 (NRF24) headquarters and commands under the lead of JFC Brunssum.
Additionally, eight NATO Centres of Excellence and seven international/non-governmental organizations participated in the exercise.
STEADFAST JUPITER 2023 is a milestone in operationalizing the Concept for the Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA): a strategy for the short to medium term that enables Allies to rapidly strengthen NATO's deterrence and defence posture in all domains.
DDA sets the foundation for the Alliance’s multi-domain architecture in peace, crisis, and conflict and underscores a more harmonized military planning network for NATO’s 31 member nations.
The 20-month preparation the JWC put in for Exercise STEADFAST JUPITER 2023 has paid off, according to the Colonel John Atkins, the JWC’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Exercises, Training and Innovation (DCOS ET&I) Directorate and Director of the 1000-strong Exercise Control (EXCON) organization.
Colonel Atkins said: “I am very proud of the entire JWC and wider exercise planning team, which has made this exercise possible. Cooperation has been excellent throughout. The exercise has also been an ideal learning opportunity for the integration of capabilities across all domains.”
STEADFAST JUPITER 2023 is a milestone in operationalizing the Concept for the Deterrence and Defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area: a strategy for the short to medium term that enables Allies to rapidly strengthen NATO's deterrence and
defence posture in all domains.
Nearly 2,500 injects were played
Colonel Joern Jakschik, the JFC Brunssum trusted agent for STEADFAST JUPITER 2023, said: “It was a great learning opportunity for Joint Force Command Brunssum as NATO’s operational headquarters in Central Europe and the priority-one training audience to train and be integrated into a multi-domain environment."
He added: "With the integration of strategic, operational and tactical echelons, we tested our processes to a realistic extent never before conducted. Additionally, STEADFAST JUPITER 2023 helps all of us and the wider NATO community to orientate and focus our thinking on our main effort which is to be prepared in the best possible way for the warfighting task should deterrence fail.”
During the exercise, the JWC’s advisory teams were deployed in various locations including the EXCON Forward team at JFC Brunssum and at SHAPE.
According to the JWC’s Advisory Team Chief, “the role of the Advisory Team has never been so vital for NATO warfare development in the areas of operational planning, joint fires, multi-domain operations, and the role of the J35 (future operations) in a strategic- and operational-level headquarters.”
The exercise was a testing ground for the JWC’s most complex CAX simulations, which involved, just in the air domain, more than 1,200 military aircraft sorties per day flying over the simulated area of operations.
In Lower Control, or LOCON, 600 personnel simulated the actions, coordination and decisions for the headquarters commanding over 600,000 personnel, with all the associated ships, equipment and aircraft representing all NATO capabilities in a multi-domain environment.
The JWC’s Chief Content for STJU23 said that the Article 5 exercise has remarkably expanded the scale and complexity of NATO command post exercises in the new era of collective defence.
“NATO’s responsiveness was tested from high-intensity warfighting to humanitarian assistance efforts. The content that was produced under the JWC’s guidance underpins an exercise that directly contributes to the Alliance’s largest post-cold war era transformation: i.e. resetting from crisis management to collective defence,” he said.
“I am very proud of the entire JWC and wider exercise planning team, which has made this exercise possible. Cooperation has been excellent throughout. The exercise has also been an ideal learning opportunity for the integration of capabilities across all domains.”
- Colonel John Atkins, JWC DCOS ET&I
STEADFAST JUPITER 2023 concludes just days ahead of the JWC’s 20-year milestone
As NATO’s premiere centre for full-spectrum joint operational- and strategic-level warfare, the JWC has been at the forefront of shaping the way NATO trains for the future. With exercises like STEADFAST JUPITER 2023, the JWC is adapting at pace to meet the ever-changing battlespace and Alliance requirements. The JWC will celebrate its 20th anniversary in Norway on October 23, 2023.
Photos from STEADFAST JUPITER 2023
Major General Piotr Malinowski, Commander JWC and Exercise Director
The JWC EXCON Forward staff at Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum
Exercise Control, Joint Warfare Centre