CWIX 2026 – Interoperability in action

CWIX is NATO Allied Command Transformation’s flagship experimentation event uniting over 40 nations, testing, integrating and proving capabilities.

CWIX is a NATO interoperability exercise conducting thousands of trials. MOD Crown copyright.

Thousands of engineers, operators, soldiers, sailors, aviators and technologists are now on the ground in Poland for Coalition Warrior Interoperability Exploration, Experimentation, Examination Exercise (CWIX 2026), working side-by-side to achieve one ambition: enabling NATO forces to fight, think and decide as one. 

What began months ago as detailed planning is now a live, high-tempo experimentation environment. Across the Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz Poland, systems are being connected, tested and challenged in real time – turning interoperability from aspiration into operational reality.

The engine room of NATO interoperability

CWIX is NATO Allied Command Transformation’s flagship experimentation exercise, and it is now in full swing. Conducted over three intensive weeks, it brings together Alliance members, partner nations and industry in a controlled but operationally-relevant environment. 

Here, near operationally-ready and experimental command-and-control (C2) systems and IT services are being tested against real-world scenarios. Engineers and operators are not just validating technology; they are solving integration challenges that directly affect how NATO will operate in future missions. 

Building on the scale of previous years, CWIX 2026 is seeing thousands of participants from across more than 40 nations working across hundreds of systems and tens of thousands of test cases.  

Jack Gillum, Assistant Head, International Experimentation and Wargaming at the Integrated Warfare Centre, said:

CWIX is where interoperability is proven under pressure. What’s happening here isn’t theoretical – it’s about ensuring systems, nations and people can operate together seamlessly when it matters most.