CNE 2025: Advancing Maritime Readiness through Integration, Innovation, and Simulation
The Combined Naval Event (CNE) 2025, held from 20 to 22 May at the Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference Centre in the United Kingdom, established itself as the most comprehensive naval and maritime defence forum in Europe. Gathering over 2,200 delegates from more than 80 countries, the event served as a strategic platform to shape capability development, explore multi-domain naval operations, and reinforce international maritime cooperation in an increasingly complex threat environment.
CNE 2025 was structured around a multi-theatre conference model addressing surface fleet development, underwater defence and security, digital transformation, integrated air and missile defence, and future submarine innovations. Discussions were grounded in operational realities drawn from global maritime theatres, with strong representation from NATO, EU naval forces, national procurement bodies, technology developers, and system integrators. The event was supported by the Royal Navy, the UK Ministry of Defence, and NATO, and featured sponsors from across the defence-industrial spectrum, including BAE Systems, Leonardo, Thales, Northrop Grumman, Babcock, Atlas Elektronik, and Navantia, among others.”
A defining moment of CNE 2025 was the participation, for the first time, of the NATO Modelling & Simulation Centre of Excellence (M&S COE) as an official NATO entity. The Centre’s involvement marked a significant step in the operationalisation of high-end simulation capabilities in support of NATO’s evolving maritime force posture. The M&S COE’s contribution reflected NATO’s increasing focus on data-driven, synthetic environments for complex decision-making, mission rehearsal, and cross-domain experimentation.
The Centre delivered a dedicated session and live simulation demonstration titled Maritime Divide 2025, developed in cooperation with Fabaris, part of the S3K Group. The simulation scenario was designed to explore high-stakes naval conflict dynamics in the Eastern Mediterranean. It focused on regional competition for critical energy resources and the geopolitical tensions arising from strategic maritime chokepoints. Coalition naval forces were tasked with managing escalating tensions and ensuring freedom of navigation while responding to grey-zone operations and unconventional threats.
At the technical core of the demonstration was the Joint Theatre Level Simulation – Global Operations (JTLS-GO) system. Developed by Valkyrie Enterprises and validated by NATO, JTLS-GO provided a distributed, multi-domain simulation environment capable of representing joint and combined operations across maritime, air, land, cyber, and space domains. The M&S COE’s scenario incorporated both conventional and irregular threat actors, combining real-time data with advanced simulation logic and AI-enhanced behavioural modelling.
The simulation employed an integrated Live, Virtual, and Constructive (LVC) architecture. Live inputs included environmental and geospatial datasets; virtual elements rendered naval platforms, operational areas, and sensor networks; constructive agents simulated coalition and adversarial force behaviours based on programmed doctrines and decision rules. By unifying these components, the M&S COE demonstrated how synthetic environments can replicate operational complexity and deliver actionable insights to commanders, planners, and analysts.
The event was not merely a showcase of technical capability but a strategic proof-of-concept for NATO’s use of simulation as a critical enabler of multi-domain operations (MDO). The Centre’s Education & Training Section Chief, Commander Dino Tropea, led the session, presenting how advanced modelling can enhance both readiness and operational advantage. His address included application areas such as amphibious force integration, anti-submarine warfare (ASW), distributed maritime operations.
The M&S COE’s presence aligned with CNE’s broader focus on leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data fusion to support naval transformation. Throughout the three days, sessions across multiple theatres addressed critical technology topics including persistent undersea surveillance, quantum sensing, resilient communications, and digital twinning for maintenance planning. Digital security and maritime cyber defence were also extensively discussed, including insights from NATO MARCOM and national cyber command representatives.
One of the most pressing themes was the protection of maritime critical infrastructure. With subsea cables and energy pipelines increasingly vulnerable to sabotage and espionage, Defence representatives and industry partners presented solutions involving satellite-integrated detection, geo-data fusion, and AI-powered threat modelling. These technologies are expected to form the backbone of future maritime security architectures, particularly within NATO’s concept for Critical Undersea Infrastructure Defence.
The agenda also addressed the transition from traditional mine warfare to hybridised MCM operations. Several panels presented combined approaches using legacy MCM vessels alongside modular payloads, expendable drones, and cooperative autonomous networks. NATO’s Naval Mine Warfare Centre of Excellence, Swedish FMV, and the US Navy highlighted field lessons from REPMUS, BALTOPS, and DYNAMIC MONGOOSE, reinforcing the need for interoperability in future mine warfare doctrines.
Industry participants highlighted the growing emphasis on open architecture systems, scalable software platforms, and agile acquisition pathways to meet emerging maritime challenges. BAE Systems, Thales, and General Dynamics showcased innovations in combat system integration, advanced sonar, and edge computing for ASW. These capabilities were contextualised within the broader operational vision set by the Royal Navy, the U.S. Navy, and key AUKUS representatives, all of whom stressed the importance of rapid adaptability in the face of high-tech peer adversaries.
CNE 2025 concluded with strategic reflections on digital convergence, data-enabled command and control, and the urgency of aligning defence industry output with NATO’s strategic direction. The participation of the NATO M&S COE for the first time as a NATO institution underscored the organisation’s commitment to advancing readiness through simulation and high-fidelity digital environments. It also signalled NATO’s intent to expand the use of synthetic training, operational experimentation, and decision support systems in maritime operations.
The demonstration of Maritime Divide 2025 set a benchmark for future engagements, positioning the M&S COE as a central contributor to NATO’s strategic transformation. The Centre’s integration of AI-enhanced simulation, LVC technologies, and coalition command logic illustrated how virtualised environments can directly support deterrence, defence planning, and operational cohesion across the alliance.
CNE 2025 reinforced the view that maritime superiority in the 21st century will be defined by how effectively naval forces integrate advanced technologies, data-driven decision support, and collaborative simulation tools into their operational frameworks. As NATO modernises its maritime posture, the NATO M&S COE’s role in enabling digitally supported warfare will continue to grow in significance, serving both as a technological hub and a doctrine-shaping institution within the alliance.
Written by Cdr Dino D. Tropea NATO M&S COE
+++++++++++++
The NATO Modelling & Simulation Centre of Excellence is dedicated to the promotion of Modelling & Simulation in support of operational requirements, training and interoperability. The Centre act as a catalyst for transformation through the involvement of NATO, governments, academia, industry, operational and training entities, by improving the networking of NATO and nationally owned Modelling & Simulation systems, the cooperation between Nations and organizations through the sharing of Modelling & Simulation information and developments and serving as an international source of expertise for transformation in the related domain. https://www.mscoe.org
NATO Centres of Excellence are nationally or multi-nationally funded institutions accredited by NATO. They train and educate leaders and specialists from NATO member and partner countries, assist in doctrine development, identify lessons learned, improve interoperability and capabilities, and test and validate concepts through experimentation. They offer recognized expertise and experience that is of benefit to the Alliance and support the transformation of NATO, while avoiding the duplication of assets, resources and capabilities already present within the NATO command structure. Although not part of the NATO command structure, they are part of a wider framework supporting NATO Command Arrangements. [source https://www.act.nato.int/centres-of-excellence]
NATO