The NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) began the execution phase of its annual Crossed Swords 2026 exercise in Tallinn on 2 November, with more than 250 participants from over 40 NATO and non-NATO countries. New this year is a training stream in which participants design, develop, deploy and evaluate AI agents and operate alongside them. The exercise director said synchronisation gets harder 'because AI is now in the loop on both sides', and the environment includes on-premises AI and, for the first time, OpenAI's Daybreak.
Synchronisation as the operational problem, with AI on both sides
Exercise director Jozef Kostelansky said 'the core operational challenge we are testing is synchronisation', and that this year it gets harder 'because AI is now in the loop on both sides'. Crossed Swords aims to sharpen operational-level military command elements (offensive and defensive cyber capabilities) and tactical-level cyber specialists, and is integrated with a special operations forces exercise. Press reports note that cyber effects are expected to land within minutes of physical action rather than hours.
Participants include military cyber operators, digital forensics analysts and threat hunters, and the exercise also covers civil-military cooperation including critical infrastructure protection planning. CCDCOE director Tõnis Saar described it as an opportunity to prepare for cyber operations in a multi-domain setting. The exercise has run annually since 2014 and continues until 6 November.
Daybreak and more than 20 private partners
Alongside on-premises AI systems, the technical environment includes OpenAI's 'Daybreak' for the first time. Daybreak is the defensive cyber technology for which the company announced $1 billion in subsidised access in September, and this exercise is its first multinational venue. More than 20 partners from academia, industry and NGOs take part, including OpenAI, Mandiant, ESET, Bitdefender, Elastic, Fujitsu and the International Committee of the Red Cross. OpenAI did not respond to press requests for comment.
CCDCOE is a NATO-accredited research and training body operating outside NATO's formal military command structure, so the exercise does not amount to a change in alliance operational doctrine; it is a stage at which national personnel test the skills of operating with AI agents. Organisers have not indicated that the agents can authorise attacks or select targets without human approval, and stress human oversight. No publication of results or an after-action report has been announced.
Sources
Primary sources
- 1
Exercise Crossed Swords tests cyber operations and multi-domain coordination
Source checked 5 Nov 2026
NATO CCDCOE · External site
Reporting
- 2
AI Agents Enter The Battlefield As NATO Prepares For Future Warfare
Source checked 5 Nov 2026
Daily Caller · External site - 3
NATO's Crossed Swords Exercise Brings AI Agents Into Cyber Operations Training
SecurityWeek · External site
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AI & Security Observatory（2026-11-02）「NATOサイバー防衛センターの演習、AIエージェントを攻守の「ループ内」に初導入 OpenAIのDaybreakも」『AI & Security Observatory』、第1.0版、最終更新2026-11-05。https://ai-security-observatory.org/ja/brief/brief-20261105-05/
AI & Security Observatory (2026-11-02). NATO CCDCOE's Crossed Swords exercise puts AI agents 'in the loop on both sides' for the first time, with OpenAI's Daybreak in the environment . AI & Security Observatory, version 1.0. Updated 2026-11-05. https://ai-security-observatory.org/en/brief/brief-20261105-05/
Version 1.0 · Publication date 2 Nov 2026 · Updated 5 Nov 2026
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