Ardent Defender Exercise 2025

 

From 14 OCT to 31 OCT 2025, the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) hosted the multinational Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) exercise titled “Ardent Defender”. Exercise Ardent Defender (Ex AD) serves as a vital platform for advancing EOD and Technical Exploitation (TE) capabilities. It aims to strengthen collective resilience and bolster NATO's strategic deterrence posture, in collaboration with key European nations and the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. This year exercise was featured by realistic, modern, and challenging IEDD scenarios, based on operational lessons learned from ongoing conflicts such as those in Ukraine and the Israel-Iran region. Moreover, the Ex was reflected the joint, multinational, and inter-agency operational environment aspects.

With respect to Ex AD 25 planning process outcomes, the exercise execution phase offered opportunity to 15 EOD teams and 6 Weapons Intelligence Teams/Forensic Exploitation Teams from 11 countries to improve their EOD teams TTPs via observed scenarios in multiple worldwide conflict zones. Accepting the CAF invitation, the NATO EOD COE EOD Staff officer 1LT Erik KOSAR conducted daily duties at the Exercise Control Cell, where management and smooth running of the exercise was directed by a multinational staff. As the AD 25 initiative is bringing together experience and expertise from both NATO nations and Commonwealth countries e.g. Australia and New Zealand, it is in the interest of the NATO EOD COE to continue observing the application of NATO EOD-related standards across various units in real-life situations.

 

Text: 1LT Erik KOSAR, SVK-A