NATO’s Digital Backbone Experimentation 2026 (DiBaX 2026) took place in Latvia from October 19-30, under the leadership of NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT), supported by the Latvian Ministry of Defence and the National Armed Forces, with LMT Defence as the technical integrator.

This year’s communication experimentation focused on three use case areas: rapid deployment through 5G network slicing, resilient communications with failover between different communication methods, and passive object detection using 5G infrastructure. The aim was to test how different technologies, networks and systems could be integrated to strengthen NATO’s operational capabilities.

The chosen use cases were designed to prepare for scenarios that don’t yet meet the Article 5 threshold, but still test NATO and its partners. Grey-zone incidents include drone intrusions and undersea cable incidents in the Baltic Sea.

“Russia’s war against Ukraine has shown us how rapidly the character of war is changing. Our adversaries are learning and adapting, and NATO must be able to move faster to maintain its military advantage. This is precisely what NATO Fuse is about: building an alliance capable of continuous adaptation,” said Admiral Pierre Vandier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, at the concluding press conference on October 30 at Ādaži Military Base.

“We change the rules because we need different results, and the results are somehow encouraging. And we took the risk today, even to fail. This is new. It’s not a show. It’s not something where it’s all blue sky and all the things work.”

Preparing for tomorrow’s problems

DiBaX 2026 focused on three use case areas. The first explored how NATO forces could achieve secure command and control and data services from day one, before full infrastructure arrived. The experiment focused on how a private 5G network slice could be established on host-nation mobile infrastructure and used to rapidly and securely serve NATO forces.

Another use case area focused on resilience, exploring multiple communication paths and failover options in jammed environments. This includes radio failover across frequencies, satellite communications – including 5G direct-to-device – and troposcatter links.

The third use case area focused on data aggregation and sensemaking, e.g. via passive object detection through 5G, especially in urban environments with dense tower coverage. The experiment explored 5G as a means to detect objects moving through its coverage area.

“We have connected systems that were never designed to communicate with each other, using artificial intelligence to overcome interoperability barriers. It’s the first time that we have, for example, a Maven system that is speaking to a national system, and that has been fixed in hours with Agentic AI,” Vandier said.

“We have significantly accelerated the targeting process. This time, better than it was at the beginning of the week, and we experimented with counter-drone capabilities across national borders.”

“We have also demonstrated how civil networks can support military capabilities, […] 5G for drone detection to remote medical assistance.”

Lieutenant General Kaspars Pudāns of the National Armed Forces of the Republic of Latvia emphasised the importance of adapting to rapidly changing battlefield technologies.

“I think this is most important: that war in Ukraine has significantly sped [up] changes in the character of war in technologies, but it’s not only for the Ukrainian military, it’s not only for us, but it’s also for our adversaries. They are also learning from battlefields.”

“This is and will remain a constant competition, like an existential cat-and-mouse game and competition between new capabilities and countermeasures we develop during active combat, as we see in Ukraine and somewhere else in the world.”

“The fact that the DiBaX experiment is taking place in Latvia for the fifth consecutive year demonstrates our ability to provide an environment for testing and refining the latest defence technologies under various conditions. This experience allows us not only to test innovative digital solutions in an environment that closely resembles realistic operational conditions, but also to strengthen cooperation with NATO Allies and promote technological interoperability,” emphasised Latvia’s Minister of Defence Raivis Melnis.

From experimentation to adoption

One of the high-level goals of DiBaX 2026 was to move from pure innovation to adoption. Rather than showcasing technologies, the experimentation focused on how to adopt and integrate these capabilities into military and civilian structures, including dual-use applications.

“For us, as a NATO member of the Alliance Eastern Flank here in Latvia, we cannot afford to treat technological innovation and adaptation as a distant objective for us. It must be part of our everyday work in developing the combat capabilities of our armed forces, of our society, of our defence,” Pudāns said.

“Our objective is to make these technologies support our forces and make them more effective on the battlefield. Innovations must work alongside existing capabilities. This is what could give us an advantage.”

Vandier also stressed that the next challenge is turning experimental achievements into operational capabilities.

“The next challenge, and it’s the most difficult, is adoption. We can make whatever we want here; in the end, it needs to be adopted by the nations, by NATO itself. NATO has tremendous innovation potential. We have the technologies, we have the engineers, we have the industry, we have the money. Now it’s a question of mindset.”

“So we need our decisions. We need contracts. We need ability to deliver at scale, and put that in the field.”

Countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, the United States, Canada, Finland and others took part in DiBaX 2026. NATO entities such as the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA), NATO CIS Group (NCISG), and other NATO Command Structure (NCS) entities were involved as well.

Participants also included more than 60 technology partners, including Ascent Lumina, BPNE, Dronetag, Ericsson, FireSwarm Solutions, FortAegis, Inovec, Kelluu, Kinnami, the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), Nokia, PLATH, Spectra Group, Tactiql, TEKEVER, Thales and others. LMT served as the technical integrator for the event.

“Communications have become the invisible battlefield of modern defence. The ability to protect the flow of information can determine how quickly forces understand what is happening and act accordingly. DiBaX is not just about testing individual technologies, but about ensuring that the digital backbone connecting them remains resilient in contested conditions,” said Ingmārs Pūķis, Vice President and Member of the Management Board at LMT.

Two additional experimentation areas built on DiBaX

Alongside the DiBaX digital backbone use cases, two additional NATO experimentation efforts took place: the Layered Counter-UAS Initiative (LCI-X) and Next Generation Targeting (NGT).

LCI-X, a NATO ACT Beacon Project focused on counter-UAS capabilities, examined how different sensors and effectors could work together as a layered defence against active unmanned aerial system threats.

Meanwhile, NGT focused on accelerating the information-to-decision process. It explored AI-enabled decision support and data aggregation to help prepare data so that the right decisions could be made as quickly as possible.

DiBaX 2026 culminated in late October, with early observer opportunities on 27–28 October, followed by NATO FUSE on 29–30 October. The first day of NATO FUSE featured plenaries, panels, and industry engagement, while 30 October focused on live field experimentation and outdoor demonstrations.

“Of course, we encounter difficulties. Some things have worked; others need improvement. It’s not an achievement today; it’s the beginning of the new story. We must accept control risks. We must expose imperfections,” Vandier said.

“FUSE is both a culmination and a beginning. It brings together the achievements of our experimentation in digital connectivity, counter-drone defence, and next-generation targeting. And it marks the beginning of a process we intend to repeat, improve, and scale across the alliance.”

DiBaX 2026 also included high-level NATO and EU engagement in Latvia. On 30 October, NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Alexus G. Grynkewich, visited Latvia and met with Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs.

European Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis also participated in NATO FUSE, where he announced the establishment of two pilot European Drone Technology Hubs in 2027, one in Latvia and one in the Netherlands. The hubs will accelerate the development, testing and deployment of drone and counter-drone technologies in close cooperation with NATO.