NNCC Alignment Session - Towards the Hybrid Navy

The NNCC Alignment Session brings together representatives from government, industry, and knowledge institutions across the Northern Naval Capability Cooperation (NNCC) nations. The two-day session is dedicated to strengthening collaboration and shaping the future direction of naval capability development in response to evolving maritime security challenges.

Under the theme “Towards the Hybrid Navy: The Role of Experimentation to Accelerate Acquisition and Adapt to Changing Threats”, the session focuses on how stakeholders can work together to accelerate the selection, assessment, acquisition, and introduction of innovative solutions to enhance maritime security and operational readiness.

 

Purpose of the Alignment Session

The NNCC Alignment Session aims to translate shared ambitions into concrete steps for cooperation. As part of the NNCC refocus, the event serves as a platform to align government needs with industry capabilities and to strengthen collaboration across borders.

Key objectives include:

  • Developing a shared understanding of government requirements and adaptive industry solutions for improved Maritime Domain Awareness
  • Identifying three priority topics for cooperation within the NNCC framework
  • Aligning challenge-based approaches to accelerate acquisition processes and innovation cycles

By bringing together diverse stakeholders, NNCC aims to create a shared direction for future cooperation and enable more effective responses to rapidly changing maritime threats.

 

Focus Areas and Workshop Themes

The majority of the session is dedicated to interactive workshops designed to encourage dialogue, exchange of ideas, and co-creation between participants from different sectors and nations.

Three central themes guide the workshop program:

1. Maritime Domain Awareness
This workshop focuses on improving the shared understanding of maritime environments and threats. Participants explore how governments and industry can jointly develop and integrate solutions that enhance situational awareness and responsiveness in the maritime domain.

2. Topics for Cooperation
This theme explores potential areas for future collaboration within NNCC. Beyond Maritime Domain Awareness, participants identify additional capabilities and domains that are suitable for challenge-based cooperation and joint development.

3. Challenges for Acquisition
This workshop addresses how acquisition processes can be accelerated through innovative approaches. The focus lies on aligning government procurement processes with industry innovation cycles and exploring how challenge-based methods can support faster introduction of new solutions.

Each participant rotates through all three workshop themes, ensuring a broad exchange of perspectives and insights across the entire group.

 

Expected Outcomes

The NNCC Alignment Session is designed to produce tangible outcomes that contribute directly to the future of the cooperation. These include:

  • A shared view on operational needs and industry solutions for Maritime Domain Awareness
  • Defined topics for continued cooperation within the NNCC framework
  • Aligned concepts for challenge-based acquisition approaches that can accelerate innovation and delivery

These outcomes form the basis for continued collaboration within NNCC and support the development of more agile and effective naval capabilities.

 

Looking Ahead

The NNCC Alignment Session marks an important step in strengthening cooperation between governments, industry, and knowledge institutions. By focusing on experimentation, collaboration, and innovation, NNCC aims to support the development of a more adaptive and responsive naval capability landscape.

The discussions and outcomes from this session will contribute to shaping future NNCC activities and reinforcing shared efforts to address emerging maritime security challenges.