Behind the scenes at Trident Juncture - the tactical picture

On board USS Mount Whitney, Norwegian Sea – Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO (STRIKFORNATO) is on board USS Mount Whitney, participating in exercise Trident Juncture.

One of the challenges for STRIKFORNATO as the Maritime Component Command, has been to bring together all 31 nations involved onto the same Tactical Data Link (TDL) in order to share a joint tactical data picture.

"The success achieved regarding the TDL for SFN has been fantastic and demonstrates all 31 countries working together with a bond of trust in sharing terminals and the tactical picture,” said Commander Juergen Peter, German Navy.

He added: "One of the challenges has been the large number of units involved and with units changing, the system has to be continually reconstructed and adapted. We have a tactical picture where we can fully track all ships, aircraft and land forces. Everyone knows where everybody is and it gives commanders a complete overview of the tactical situation.”

NATO has developed a multi-link interface used by maritime, air and ground forces. This interface brings all the links together by using radio frequencies (UHF and HF) and Internet Protocol (IP) to transmit, relay and receive tactical data, such as sensor inputs from radars and sonars.

The STRIKFORNATO Data Link teams have been fine tuning the system to provide the best solution possible for this exercise and future operations.

Individual countries have a tactical data picture but NATO is unique with the number of countries involved. STRIKFORNATO will continue to adapt its TDL to new situations in preparation for future exercises and to protect our freedom and security.