NATO and Artificial Intelligence: JWC Trains Its Teams on the Maven Smart System

STAVANGER, Norway — NATO accelerates its military digitalization process. The Joint Warfare Centre (JWC) hosted a training session sponsored by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), aimed at training personnel in the use of the Maven Smart System NATO (MSS NATO), the Alliance's first artificial intelligence-enabled command and control system.

Developed by Palantir Technologies Inc., the Maven Smart System represents a decisive step in the modernization of NATO's warfare capabilities. The software allows for the collection, analysis, and integration of vast amounts of data from multiple operational domains, providing commands with a faster, more coherent, and real-time updated decision-making framework.

Major General Ruprecht von Butler, Commander of the JWC, emphasized the importance of the project for the Center's hyper-automation goals and the Alliance's digital transformation. “Our fighters require faster, more agile, and realistic training environments capable of incorporating advanced warfare tools like the Maven Smart System,” he stated.

STEADFAST DUEL 2025: First Operational Test

The MSS NATO system will be tested on a large scale during the STEADFAST DUEL 2025 exercise, one of the most complex ever organized by the Alliance. The event, planned by SHAPE, coordinated by Joint Force Command Brunssum, and directed by the JWC, will simultaneously involve NATO's three joint force commands: Brunssum, Naples, and Norfolk.

During the exercise, Maven will enable the consolidation of data from different domains — land, air, maritime, cyber, and space — improving the synchronization of operations and enhancing collective deterrence and defense capabilities.

Colonel David, Director of SHAPE's Task Force Maven, highlighted that the goal is to transform data management into an immediate operational advantage: “MSS NATO will strengthen cross-domain data fusion, elevating decision-making capabilities and driving digital transformation. We will be more effective, faster, and ready to fight at any moment.”

AI Enters the NATO Exercise Cycle

The training activity conducted at the JWC involved over a hundred participants, including operators and developers. The courses were divided into two modules: one aimed at military personnel, dedicated to the operational use of the system, and one for technicians tasked with implementing and adapting software functions within the exercises.

According to Captain Mark, Director of Task Force Maven at JFC Brunssum, the introduction of Maven marks a cultural as well as technological evolution: “This platform will first allow us to do things better, and then to do better things. It is a transformation that will change the way we plan and conduct operations.”

The project involves experts from the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCIA) and Allied Command Transformation (ACT), along with data engineers and analysts from Palantir. Lieutenant Colonel Jered, a member of the JWC's MSS integration team, commented: “This training is just the beginning. We are laying the groundwork for continuous innovation across the Alliance, digitalizing the exercise process and leveraging artificial intelligence to build more realistic and complex scenarios.”

With the integration of the Maven Smart System, NATO takes a decisive step towards an operational model where decision-making speed, data fusion, and informational superiority become central elements of future collective defense.