NATO Communications and Information Systems ensure connectivity during Trident Juncture

KALLAX, Sweden – Fifteen Hungarian and Lithuanian NATO technicians and experts ensure communications and information systems are constantly available to connect the Air Detachment at Kallax to the whole exercise.

Without communications, nothing will work during exercise Trident Juncture 18 as air bases are dispersed across Norway, Sweden and Finland. This service is provided by the deployable communications support team comprised of elements of the Hungarian and the Lithuanian units overseen by the NATO Communications and Information Systems Support Group’s NATO Signal Battalion.

"The main task of my team is to deploy, set up, operate and maintain the computer workstations, phones, printers, video-teleconferencing equipment and ensure connectivity with other NATO and national units,” says the team leader, Hungarian Army Major Sandor Nemeth.

"We arrived in Kallax already on 8 October and conducted set-up and testing of systems in the first week,” says Major Nemeth. "We had an excellent cooperation with our Swedish hosts and handed the whole architecture over to the NATO Air Detachment when they deployed here on 19 October.”

"During the exercise the challenge has been to keep all systems operational allowing the colleagues from the Air Detachment to accomplish their mission of supervising and controlling the flying programme during Trident Juncture,” he adds.

When the exercise wraps up on 7 November, the ten Hungarians and five Lithuanians will take a couple more days to wind down their operation before they redeploy to their garrisons.