IN Brief:
- NATO's DiBaX 2026 experiments are taking place at the Ādaži and Sēlija military bases in Latvia.
- Three parallel workstreams cover digital communications, layered counter-UAS technologies and next-generation targeting.
- Nearly 100 companies from more than 20 countries are participating, with NATO FUSE scheduled to conclude the programme on 30 October.
NATO has expanded its defence technology experimentation in Latvia, bringing nearly 100 companies from more than 20 countries together to test communications infrastructure, counter-drone systems and targeting technologies at the Ādaži and Sēlija military bases.
The activities are taking place during October 2026 under three parallel initiatives: Digital Backbone Experimentation, known as DiBaX 2026; the Layered Counter UAS Initiative, or LCI-X; and Next Generation Targeting, or NGT. Latvia’s Ministry of Defence confirmed the enlarged programme on 21 October, with field trials and integration work continuing until the end of the month.
DiBaX has been hosted in Latvia annually since 2022, initially concentrating on the network infrastructure needed to connect different military systems. The current edition extends that work to the integration of sensors and effectors, allowing communications technologies to be assessed alongside equipment performing other defence functions.
The programme is being led by NATO Allied Command Transformation in cooperation with Latvia’s defence ministry and National Armed Forces. Latvian company LMT Defence is the lead technology integrator and one of the organisers, providing infrastructure and technical support for the experimental network.
The participation of almost 100 companies represents approximately three times the level recorded in earlier editions, according to Latvia’s defence ministry. The expanded group brings equipment developed by different suppliers into a common experimental environment, where technical compatibility can be examined alongside the performance of individual systems.
Military networks must connect equipment that often differs in age, operating system, data format and security requirements. A sensor can detect a potentially relevant object, but its observation must be transferred through a suitable communications path before another system can interpret the information or use it in a decision process.
The digital backbone provides the infrastructure through which those observations and other information are exchanged. Its usefulness depends on more than the presence of a network connection: participating systems must recognise data formats, maintain accurate timing and manage information that may be incomplete or delayed.
DiBaX 2026 is examining several specific communications applications. NATO Allied Command Transformation has identified rapid deployment through 5G network slicing, resilient communications across multiple networks and the use of connected digital infrastructure to improve situational awareness, including experiments involving passive object detection using 5G equipment.
Network slicing allows different logical services to operate over shared 5G infrastructure, with resources and service characteristics assigned to particular applications. In a military environment, separate communications requirements may include command messages, sensor observations and other operational data that place different demands on latency, bandwidth and continuity.
The behaviour of those services must be assessed when several types of traffic compete for network resources. A high-volume sensor feed and a comparatively small command message may have different transmission requirements, while excessive delay or packet loss can affect the usefulness of both.
Resilient communications across several networks introduces a separate integration problem. Systems may need to maintain information exchange when one link becomes degraded or unavailable, but switching between connections can affect timing, reliability and the handling of messages already in transit.
The experiments examine these networking functions alongside counter-UAS technologies. LCI-X brings sensors and effectors into an integrated arrangement intended to support detection, identification and response to uncrewed aircraft threats.
Different sensing technologies produce different kinds of evidence. Radar can measure range and movement, while electro-optical sensors provide visual information under suitable conditions. Radio-frequency receivers may identify some emissions associated with uncrewed aircraft or their supporting communications, depending on the design and behaviour of the target.
Combining those observations requires systems to recognise whether measurements relate to the same object. The information may have different accuracy, timing and coverage characteristics, making it necessary to retain suitable metadata as observations move through the network.
Sensor fusion can help reduce uncertainty where measurements are complementary, but inconsistent or low-confidence observations still require appropriate handling. The experimental programme has not published a complete set of detection rates, classification results or measured performance figures for participating counter-drone systems.
Effectors present further engineering requirements. Equipment intended to respond to an identified threat must receive suitable information and operate under the relevant command and authorisation arrangements. Integration testing can establish whether the supporting interfaces function, although that does not demonstrate that every potential response is safe or suitable in every operating environment.
Next Generation Targeting adds another set of requirements involving the collection, processing and transmission of information. The initiative concerns deep-strike capability development, making the integrity and availability of shared information relevant to the broader experimental architecture.
Systems contributing to targeting processes must exchange information with consistent references and timing. An observation that is technically correct when collected may become less useful as time passes or as the observed object changes position, so communications and processing delays form part of the overall systems assessment.
Conducting experiments at two military bases introduces additional demands for coordination. Ādaži has hosted DiBaX since the programme began, while the inclusion of Sēlija expands the available operating environment and the arrangements through which participating systems are assessed.
The broader scope creates opportunities to identify faults that might not appear during isolated product testing. Equipment may work correctly with its manufacturer’s software yet encounter difficulties when connected to another organisation’s network, particularly where different conventions are used for information exchange or access control.
Repeated testing under representative conditions allows technical teams to investigate those interfaces and determine whether changes are needed. However, the current programme is experimental: the Latvian authorities have not disclosed completed qualification results, procurement decisions or a comprehensive assessment of participating technologies.
DiBaX 2026 is scheduled to conclude with NATO FUSE, including an event at Ādaži on 30 October. The remaining trials and concluding demonstrations will provide further opportunities to assess how the communications infrastructure, sensors, effectors and other systems function together before any subsequent capability-development decisions.
