FEBRUARY 14, 2023 – Twenty-two nations from North America, Indo-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, along with three international organizations gathered in Monterey, Calif., Dec. 11-18 to collaborate on Nimble Titan 24, a premier integrated air and missile defense campaign of experimentation.
U.S. Strategic Command’s Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense hosted the event and provided a unique forum for allied and partner nations to explore strategies and policy implications for collective missile defense solutions.
Nimble Titan provides a globally integrated scenario, set within a notional 10-year future timeline that allows members to experiment in an unclassified and non-attributional environment. During this event, participants executed a series of interactive table-top experiments with embedded seminars to simulate global competition in an integrated air and missile defense environment.
Through this construct, members experimented with missile defense policy frameworks including non-military instruments of power to address an ever growing and complex series of threats.
Allies and partners had the opportunity to build relationships within and across regions, explore decision-making processes, and examine deterrence options and responses.
The event opened with a keynote speech by Dr. James Wirtz, professor of National Security Affairs from the Naval Post Graduate School.
Wirtz provided an engaging perspective on two important components of deterrence; capability and credibility, while reinforcing the importance of Allies and partner nations executing war-games.
Wirtz further emphasized the value of Nimble Titan stating, “Nimble Titan demonstrates to friends and foes alike that the dozens of nations represented here today take our national and collective missile defense policies seriously.
Nimble Titan does more than bolster our capabilities; it enhances the credibility of our national and collective deterrent postures in the realm of contemporary missile defense.”
Graham Longley-Brown, a lead author of the U.K. Ministry of Defense’s Wargaming Handbook participated in this competition event as a facilitator and noted the uncommon nature of this event and the overall importance of Nimble Titan.
“This was my first Nimble Titan execution event,” he said. “It was excellent from start to finish in all respects: the wargame construct, the analytical approach and data capture and, above all, the player engagement. I will take away many exemplars of how a wargame should be designed and delivered.” Longley said, “Professor Wirtz, the keynote speaker, was excellent. His point that Nimble Titan not only develops much needed integrated air and missile defense capability, but also delivers a real-world influence effect, was particularly pertinent. Nimble Titan is unique, and its deterrent and reassurance effect at the strategic level is significant.”
As rogue actors across the globe continue to develop, acquire and employ a wide variety of air and missile threats, Nimble Titan serves as a premier air and missile defense forum for Allies and partners to demonstrate the value of partnership, integration, and development of policy considerations and potential solutions to address future threats.
Courtesy Story
Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense