The Swedish Armed Forces have been instrumental in the development of 4C’s Exonaut software. Much has happened since those early days in 2000 when it was first launched. Capabilities and use cases have been greatly expanded, AI-innovations have been implemented, and uptake among armed forces has grown to include 10+ allied forces on three continents as well as Nato.
Over the years, what has remained a constant is 4C’s commitment to supporting the Swedish and other allied forces by enhancing their preparedness and readiness through an innovative, digital approach. Ensuring users can capture and utilize data – based on a single version of the truth – for effective planning, scheduling, and management of training to build forces’ capabilities, is central to this.
Today, Exonaut sets the standard for training, exercising, and readiness management. It’s used on land, at sea, in the air, and in simulations for local unit training through to multinational exercises involving thousands of people from many forces and organizations.
Long-term partnership – digitalizing military training management together with the Swedish Armed Forces
When development first began on Exonaut, most military exercises were planned, monitored, and analysed using pen and paper. Exercise data was severely lacking, making it difficult to re-run large exercises without constantly `reinventing the wheel´ or tailor exercises to meet the development requirements of units. This was both costly and resource-demanding, something that 4C wanted to change by digitalizing training management.
As a Swedish founded company, we partnered with the Swedish Armed Forces, working closely with them to develop a digital solution to simplify and improve the complex process of planning and scheduling exercises, running them, and validating and objectively assessing capabilities. Much has happened over the years as technology has advanced and warfare has evolved to include wide-ranging hybrid threats. The scope of Exonaut has grown with this.
This is reflected in the partnership, which stretches well over two decades. It has seen 4C support many different total defence exercises, Aurora exercises as well exercises like CJSE and Viking., Exercises that involve thousands of participants from civilian, military, police, and humanitarian organisations in some 60 countries.
4C and the Swedish Armed Forces partnership was further cemented in 2017 when an agreement was signed for the provision of appropriately qualified and available personnel to each organisation. Former military 4C employees can serve in the Swedish Armed Forces again while on sabbatical from the company – taking up an operational role or conducting training and exercises. Simultaneously, the Swedish Armed Forces facilitate recruitment of personnel with a military background to 4C.
International expansion starts with the British Army
In 2007, a collaboration with the British Army began which, over the years, has seen the adoption of Exonaut across many training operations. This includes the Collective Training Group (CTG) which has several distributed Collective Training Establishments (CTEs) predominantly across UK, Germany, Canada, Kenya, and Belize. As well as providing the British Army with Exonaut, 4C consultants are often onsite supporting exercises to ensure the software is utilised to its full potential. Today, Exonaut is used by CTG to support about 60 exercises in around nine countries on an annual basis.
NATO and other Allied Forces adopt Exonaut
In 2016, NATO began using Exonaut as part of its electronic Military Training and Exercise Programme (eMTEP) to improve the efficiency, transparency and interoperability exercise planning and programming process. Today, the scope of use has greatly increased as Exonaut forms an important part of NATO’s experimentation programme.
Exonaut is also used by defence organizations in North America, Australia, and across Europe. Use cases involve everything from wargaming and simulation management through to the effective selection of special forces candidates.
Most recently in Europe, the Norwegian Army have upgraded their use of Exonaut to the full Collective Training and Exercise Management (CTEM) solution, for the coming five years.
Evolving needs in uncertain times
“As uncertainty grows, there is a greater need for armed forces to assure and accelerate readiness, says Klas Lindström, 4C Strategies Deputy CEO (and an Officer in the Reserves). “Effective training is paramount to this – something we have been helping allied forces do for over two decades, but always with an eye on the future.”
“Exonaut is a highly customisable commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software supported by a continuous development roadmap, which evolves through regular global user feedback, industry standards, and emerging technologies. This shared model ensures all users can both contribute to and gain the benefits from new development. A great example of this is our new AI capabilities which deliver considerable efficiencies and support better decision-making, allowing forces to achieve more with fewer resources.”
Continued support for Allied Forces
As the global security landscape evolves, 4C Strategies continues to stand alongside its partners to ensure mission readiness through cutting-edge training, exercise, and readiness software. Whether it’s adapting to hybrid threats, building deterrence, or managing multinational exercises, Exonaut remains a trusted provider to NATO and the allied armed forces.
Military Training, Exercise and Readiness Management
Learn more about our defense software for programming, designing, delivering and evaluating objective based training and exercises to support capability development.
