04 Feb 26. USMC Prepares for Exercise Cold Response in Norway. A technical assistance and advisory team assigned to Blount Island Command, Marine Corps Support Facility Blount Island in Jacksonville, Florida, issued thousands of items to II Marine Expeditionary Force during a two-week cave draw in late January, marking a key step in unit preparations for Exercise Cold Response 26.
Marines preparing for the Norwegian-led winter exercise were equipped and supplied to operate in extreme cold-weather conditions. More than 14,000 items were issued, ranging from ready-to-eat meals and cold-weather gear to tactical vehicles and heavy trucks.
By drawing equipment and supplies from prepositioned stocks in Norway rather than shipping from the United States, the Marine Corps significantly reduced both time and cost.
According to Buddy Cote, technical assistance and advisory team officer in charge, using prepositioned assets saves more than a month compared to a transatlantic shipment, including time in transit, staging, loading and unloading, while avoiding more than $2 m in transportation costs.
“Blount Island Command’s ashore prepositioning department directly supports the Marine Corps’ doctrine for the rapid employment of expeditionary forces,” Cote said.
The equipment is part of the Marine Corps Prepositioning Program Norway, which maintains combat-ready assets in climate-controlled caves across Norway. The program has sustained an over 90% equipment readiness rate for several years through rigorous life-cycle management, including proactive maintenance, repair and modernization.
“The Marine Corps Prepositioning Program Norway reduces reaction times by providing combatant commanders with scalable and tailorable forces capable of executing limited objective missions across a wide range of military operations,” Cote said.
“This ongoing support strengthens NATO partnerships and ensures prepositioned assets are available for immediate use when called upon.”
Norwegian partners maintain and account for the prepositioned equipment on a day-to-day basis, a partnership that enhances interoperability and enables rapid integration during joint operations. The equipment is tailored to NATO standards, allowing Marines and allied forces to operate together seamlessly during exercises and contingency operations. (Source: U.S. DoD)
03 Feb 26. Babcock and ASELSAN sign Memorandum of Understanding to strengthen RAF training capability. We have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ASELSAN, a leading international defence electronics company, to explore the Royal Air Force’s (RAF) requirement for a Surface Electronic Warfare Threat (SEWT) training system as part of the Next Generation Operational Training (NGOT) programme. The system would provide advanced simulation of modern-day Integrated Air Defence Systems, supporting the UK’s commitment to enhance readiness across its forces. Working together with ASELSAN, we will develop a joint approach to this opportunity, aiming to deliver a realistic and scalable simulation capability that reflects the complexity and pace of today’s military flying operations. By combining deep operational understanding with advanced technology, the collaboration aims to provide training environments that accurately mirror real world threats, preparing aircrew for the demands of increasingly complex missions.
Austin Lewis, Vice President Future Business, Babcock, said: “The demands on aircrew are ever increasing and we are focused on ensuring they have the best training to support these evolving needs. Through this MOU, we are exploring how our complementary strengths with ASELSAN could align to support the RAF’s future training requirements.
“This collaboration allows us to assess potential routes together, bringing technical insight and integrated systems expertise into a shared effort to understand how dependable training capabilities for aircrew could be shaped.”
Erhan Ülgen, Business Development and Marketing Director for Europe and America, ASELSAN, said: “ASELSAN is excited to establish and sustain a lasting partnership with Babcock supporting the SEWT as part of NGOT. Our globally tested and proven expertise in electronic warfare will create great value for the RAF and ensure readiness of air crews in the face of modern and future challenges. Bringing together ASELSAN and Babcock’s key strengths will secure a cutting edge and sustainable solution for the RAF’s training needs.”
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19 Jan 26. Last week Allied Command Operations (ACO) officially launched NATO exercise STEADFAST DART 2026 (STDT26) across Central Europe. STEADFAST DART 2026 marks the second overall deployment of the Allied Reaction Force (ARF), but its first within the area of responsibility of Joint Force Command Brunssum, who will lead the exercise. The exercise will demonstrate the operational and strategic capabilities of the NATO force and other participating units, integrating land, air, space, cyber, maritime, and special operations forces.
“Last year, STEADFAST DART incorporated the first deployment of NATO’s new Allied Reaction Force, demonstrating Allied Command Operations’ ability to respond at a moment’s notice to an emergent threat to our Alliance,” said US Air Force General Alexus G. Grynkewich, Supreme Allied Commander Europe. “This year’s exercise builds upon that success and will again demonstrate NATO’s responsiveness, as well as its strength, in what will arguably be one of NATO’s most visible exercises this year, with forces on the land, at sea, and in the air, who will operate in all domains.”
The exercise consists of two major phases, a deployment phase and a training phase. The deployment phase began earlier this month, and the training phase begins next month. Both phases will occur during a simulated conflict scenario involving a near-peer adversary and will show that the ARF and other participating forces can conduct and sustain complex operations across multiple locations in Central Europe, particularly in Germany. There, the NATO exercise will flow directly into QUADRIGA, a German employment exercise.
Joint Force Command Brunssum has planned the exercise in close coordination with Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE*) over the last two years. “STEADFAST DART 2026, NATO’s largest exercise of 2026, shows that the Alliance can act swiftly, stand united, and respond decisively under the leadership of Joint Force Command Brunssum—exactly when it matters most,” said the Commander of JFC Brunssum, General Ingo Gerhartz. “With Exercise STEADFAST DART, we are demonstrating that NATO’s Allied Reaction Force toolbox contains every capability needed to react to any threat.”
Approximately 10,000 service personnel from 11 nations, including ARF units from Bulgaria, Czechia, Germany, Greece, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, and Türkiye, as well as Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, who are linking national exercise activities with STEADFAST DART, will participate in the exercise.
*Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum is one of three operational Headquarters of NATO and is located in the city of Brunssum, The Netherlands.
Editor’s Footnote: NATO AJFC Brunssum has already invited JOINT-FORCES to visit elements of STDT26 on two training areas in Northern Germany some 200km apart, but prior booked commitments and a packed February diary mean we are unable to give this major exercise as much personal attention as we would like to. However, if at all possible, one of our small team will attempt to attend at least one specialist media facility.
(Source: joint-forces.com)