Update: NATO plans first cross border sensor-to-shooter test

Latvian soldiers seen at Sēlija training site during exercise Crystal Arrow 2026 where sensors and effectors were integrated on a national level. (Janes/Tamara Rozouvan)

NATO Allied Land Command (LANDCOM) plans to carry out a sensor-to-shooter test event between at least two member states from central and eastern Europe by the end of 2026. Targeting and other data will be passed between them via the alliance's Eastern Flank Deterrence Initiative (EFDI) digital backbone, Brigadier Chris Gent, Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) Transformation and Integration, told Janes on 12 May in Latvia.

“We're trying to create the first NATO event where we achieve the sense to shoot cross boundary,” Brig Gent said. “One way effectors or any UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] don't follow national boundaries and so we're trying to create a challenging scenario with data passed between at least two nations”.

The EFDI digital backbone is “in design and development”, with coding experts from different nations working closely with industry partners and NATO for the past three months, according to Brig Gent.

As an example, Brig Gent outlined some of the steps around an acoustic sensor detecting a UAV in a NATO member's airspace. The first step is figuring out what happens with the raw data; then there is the question of processing that data, followed by the passing of the data to a potentially neighbouring country; and the final step is around the speed with which a response can be generated to counter the UAV. “What we're trying to do is shorten that information link to allow and increase the use of AI and autonomy,” Brig Gent said. He also confirmed that large language models (LLMs) are being integrated into this.