"Steadfast Cobalt 2018" tutorial

(To Army Majority State)
16/06/18

The "Steadfast Cobalt 2018", the largest and most complex exercise of NATO's 2018 in the Telecommunications and Information Technology sector, has been completed in Kaunas in Lithuania in recent days. and civilians belonging to 1000 different units and NATO commands, coming from 44 nations.

Our nation has been represented by one task unit of 20 military (3 officers, 8 non-commissioned officers and graduated 9) of the Italian Army in force at the 7 ° regiment transmissions of Sacile and Electronic Technical Department of Anzio coordinated, in the preparatory and programmatic phase, from the Transmissions Command of Rome.

The exercise arises from the need, for Alliance forces, to have support systems for the Command and Control need situational awareness able to share and exchange information in a secure way, within a single mission data network. Sharing essential information for carrying out a mission but at the same time protecting it from theft or cyberattacks are crucial elements for the Alliance. In fact, in a global context that sees increasingly common, sophisticated and harmful cyber threats and attacks, creating a communications and information system with a cyber defense capability is an essential element for success.

In this context, the military of the 7 ° transmissions have ventured into a conspicuous series of joint tests (about 12.000 total tests) with the Allies and with the commands of NATO, through which it was possible to verify and validate a series of hardware solutions and software on which to structure a standardized, interoperable, federated and secure cybernetic environment.

As stated by General Wolfgang Renner (NATO commander CIS Group and director of the exercise), the Steadfast Cobalt 2018 it was not just an exercise but a real preparation (from the point of view of Telecommunications and Information Technology) for a potential mission of the enhanced NATO Response Force (eNRF) in the 2019. The amply positive balance of the exercise was underlined by the commander of the 7 ° transmissions, who thanked his men and women for being able to interpret at best the delicate task assigned to the Department, and for giving prestige, with their commitment, dedication. and capacity, to the weapon of transmissions and to the Italian army.

As a demonstration of the excellent work done, a non-commissioned officer of the Electronic Technical Department and a graduate of the 7 ° regiment transmissions have received a prestigious certificate of appreciation from the aforementioned high-ranking German officer of NATO.