Appraising the State of Play of C4ISR Infrastructure within NATO: Gaps, Deficiencies and Steps Forward

This new HCSS guest paper by Andrea Gilli and Mauro Gilli assesses NATO’s C4ISR (Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) infrastructure—vital to maintaining operational superiority—as it faces growing challenges from strategic competitors, technological fragmentation, and underinvestment.

Despite cutting-edge assets like AWACS, AGS, and Link 16, the Alliance struggles with interoperability gaps, cyber vulnerabilities, and limited multi-domain operations (MDO) readiness. Russia’s advanced electronic warfare capabilities, demonstrated in Ukraine, highlight NATO’s exposure to GPS and tactical data link disruption. Moreover, national modernization efforts risk deepening fragmentation without alignment to NATO-wide goals.

The paper identifies pressing deficiencies: 25% of data exchanges delayed due to interoperability issues, 70% of undersea cables vulnerable to cyber threats, and only 40% MDO certification across forces. In contrast, Ukraine’s agile use of commercial ISR technologies, such as Starlink, illustrates what NATO currently cannot replicate at scale. Yet hope lies in transformative initiatives like DIANA, Federated Mission Networking, AFSC, and EDF.

To secure its C4ISR edge, the paper calls for decisive action at the 2025 NATO Summit through three major recommendations:

• Reform Culture and Procurement: Improve data literacy among officers, decentralize command structures, and modernize procurement for software and digital infrastructure.
• Synergize Investments: Align national and NATO C4ISR budgets, aiming for a 50% European ISR/EW contribution by 2030.
• Accelerate AI-Driven C2: Reach 50% AI integration in command structures by 2030, enabled by shared data protocols to bypass GDPR-related delays.

Andrea Gilli is Lecturer at the University of St Andrews; Mauro Gilli is Senior Researcher in Military Technology and International Security at the Center for Security Studies of ETH-Zurich.

This HCSS paper is part of a series of guest contributions related to the “NATO’s digital capabilities” project, established in the run up to the 2025 NATO summit in The Hague. The research was made possible through a financial contribution from Microsoft to the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS).