The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) has begun the execution phase of Crossed Swords 2026 in Tallinn. Running from 2 to 6 November, the exercise brings together more than 250 participants from over 40 NATO and non-NATO member states to train in cyber operations and their coordination with kinetic activities.
“Crossed Swords gives participants a unique opportunity to prepare for cyber operations in a multi-domain setting. We are seeing growing demand for this kind of training as nations work to strengthen their readiness for increasingly complex operational challenges,” said Tõnis Saar, Director of the NATO CCDCOE.
The exercise is designed to enhance the skills of both operational-level military command elements in managing offensive and defensive cyberspace capabilities and tactical-level cyber specialists. In addition to cyber warfare training, the exercise promotes the development of multi-domain operational competencies and is integrated with a special operations forces exercise.
Participants include military cyber operators, digital forensics analysts, threat hunters, and other specialists from national cyber forces or units that work closely with them. The exercise also strengthens civil-military cooperation, with participants from national cyber forces working with civilian partners to incorporate critical infrastructure protection into their planning.
Crossed Swords 2026 Exercise Director Jozef Kostelansky said: “The core operational challenge we are testing is synchronisation. Cyber effects must hit at the right moment to support a kinetic or special operations action – not in parallel, but in sequence, with timing measured in minutes, not hours. This year, that gets harder, because AI is now in the loop on both sides.”
Crossed Swords evolves each year to reflect developments in the cyber domain, introducing new elements to its training. In 2026, one of these is a new training stream focused on AI agents in cyber operations. Participants design, develop, deploy and evaluate the agents, working alongside them as operators. The technical environment also uses on-premises AI and, for the first time in the exercise, OpenAI Daybreak.
“By introducing AI agents into the operational workflow, Crossed Swords 2026 is directly addressing one of the most significant shifts in the modern cyber threat landscape. We are training our participants to harness the power of AI while maintaining the critical human oversight required for complex, multi-domain mission success,” said Kostelansky.
More than 20 partners from academia, industry and non-governmental organisations are contributing to Crossed Swords 2026. They enhance the exercise’s realism and effectiveness by providing expertise, target systems and advanced tools, and supporting their integration into the exercise.
Partners include Alias Robotics, Antisyphon Training, Atos, Bitdefender, Conducttr, Cyber Center, Elastic, Elektrilevi, ESET, EY, Fortra, Foundation CR14, Fujitsu, the Internatinal Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), iTrust, Mandiant, Mattermost, Mnemonic, the National Cybersecurity R&D Laboratory, OpenAI, Stamus Networks, TechnoLogica, Telia, TryHackMe and Tuoni.
Held annually since 2014, Crossed Swords is organised by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence.
Photo gallery: CCDCOE Flickr