The 18-Month Train: Why NATO needs a faster technology adoption cycle
For decades, NATO standardisation has moved at a deliberate pace, shaped by legacy technologies and the capability requirements they were originally designed to support. Having worked on both sides of the fence, first in government and now in the industry, I have seen first-hand how this slow cycle creates a widening gap between operational need and the speed at which technology evolves.
In October 2023, a group of us, under the NATO banner, decided to approach things differently. Rather than trying to incrementally fix an established system, we brought together stakeholders from NATO, national governments and the technology industry for a Specialist Meeting at the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) in the UK. We weren’t interested in producing another academic paper. Instead, we wanted to test a practical idea: could NATO’s technology adoption move closer to the commercial roadmap, where innovations such as 5G typically evolve in 18-month release cycles?
Building the translators
This question led to the creation of the NATO Wireless Communications Standardisation Project in February 2024. To bridge the gap between the commercial ecosystem and NATO’s policy machinery, we built a leadership team capable of acting as "translators" between the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) community, national governments and NATO’s Digital Policy Committee. The mission was simple: shift NATO from 20-year cycles to 18-month ones.
During my time in the UK government, risk management has traditionally dominated technology release processes. Multiple layers of review, combined with intellectual property considerations, often slowed progress and diluted industry input. The result was predictable: standards that did not fully reflect commercial innovation or specifications built on legacy technologies, rather than enabling the next generation. As a result, we now have an opportunity to enhance these approaches to better match the pace and collaborative nature of rapidly evolving technologies such as 3GPP.
The industrial way: The 18-month train
In the commercial world, 3GPP is like a train leaving the station. Every 18 months or so, a new release goes out. If your technical work isn't ready, you don't delay the train; you wait for the next one.
Government processes, by contrast, emphasise scrutiny and assurance. These are essential, but in fast-moving technology domains they can become a brake. To deliver the best technology to the military in a timely way, we must adopt the industrial way of working. This includes putting the best engineers from all organisations in the room to develop the technology first, rather than relying on a waterfall design process owned by a central authority.
This collaborative approach ensures that standards benefit from industry engagement from day one and are grounded in the engineering expertise required to translate them into viable products and, ultimately, operational capability.
‘Profiling Down’ for scale and sovereignty
A major part of the NATO Wireless Communications Standardisation Project has been "profiling" 3GPP specifications for the first release of the NATO STANAG (STANAG 5665), laying the foundation for interoperable military 5G across the Alliance.
Defence organisations often feel the pull to add bespoke, military-only layers on top of commercial standards. We have resisted that temptation. By staying close to commercial 5G, we can preserve the cost advantages and innovation speed that come from using the same underpinning silicon and network technologies as the rest of the world.
This approach also addresses the "sovereignty vs interoperability" debate. Some nations worry that adopting global standards means surrendering control. In reality, this profile allows nations to own and operate their own networks, acting as their own Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) for military purposes if they choose. They retain absolute sovereignty over their data while ensuring their systems can "handshake" with any other NATO partner during an exercise or operation.
A more diverse, more resilient supply chain
By sticking to 3GPP-aligned standards, we also open the door to a much broader and more resilient supply chain. It’s no longer just about the "Big Two" or "Big Three" defence primes. This model allows for a mix of suppliers, from agile SMEs to global technology leaders like Nokia or Ericsson. Nations can select the providers that meet their specific security and supply requirements without sacrificing interoperability.
The roadmap ahead
The first release of this new standard is just the beginning. With the ratification of NATO STANAG 5665 in February 2026, we’ve demonstrated that NATO can meet the rapid adoption cycle demanded by modern capability development. Adopting a more agile, industrial model positions the Alliance to integrate emerging technologies as soon as they hit the commercial market.
Work is already underway on future capabilities, including Non-Terrestrial Networking (NTN), for resilient satellite-to-ground connectivity, and Sidelink, for device-to-device communication in "denied" environments where infrastructure is down or damaged.
We are also prioritising NATO-aligned performance-testing facilities. A standard is only as good as its real-world performance, and military environments impose unique stresses. By having NATO-aligned testing, we give nations the confidence that these 3GPP-based systems are ready for deployment
A call for co-design
The takeaway for the UK tech sector is that the "requirement and response" silo limits the rapid technology development. If we want to move at the speed of threat, we have to co-develop. Industry engineers, government scientists and military planners need to be in the room together from the start.
If we embrace the industrial model: IP-driven, engineering-led and aligned with release cycles, we can ensure that NATO doesn't just talk about innovation. It deploys it.
