12 July 2024
In a pioneering effort to bolster international cyber defence, sailors and officers from Australia, Japan and the United States converged in Sydney for the inaugural Exercise Blue Spectrum.
The exercise was hosted by Commander Information Warfare Force Captain Catherine Gordon and marked the first activity within the Trilateral Maritime Information Warfare Working Group initiative.
It aimed to improve cooperation between the Australian, Japanese, and United States navies by synchronising defensive cyber tactics, techniques, procedures, workflows and lexicon, through maritime operational technology incident response.
Captain Gordon applauded the outcomes of the event, which brought together the Cyber Forces Group Fleet Cyber Unit, United States Navy Commander Pacific Fleet Cyber Protection Team 553, and Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force Communications Command HQ and Communications Security Group.
“Exercise Blue Spectrum demonstrated Australia’s maritime defensive cyber cooperation with both the US and Japan, setting the foundations so that working together becomes normalised,” Captain Gordon said.
“Interoperability is not just about technology, it is achieved through forging enduring relationships, sharing expertise and leveraging each other’s strengths.
“It was pleasing to see how well the multi-national teams developed over the course of the exercise working together to solve the challenges presented to them.”
Commanding Officer Fleet Cyber Unit Lieutenant Commander Paul Jones coordinated the exercise.
“Exercise Blue Spectrum was another step forward in enhancing both partnerships and interoperability between our international partners in the conduct of Information Warfare Operations,” he said.
“The exercise was an important step in furthering cohesion to ensure our navies are ready to operate in the likely scenarios they faced with our representative maritime operational technology simulator.
“A trained and interoperable cyber force is necessary so that we can collaboratively adapt and respond to the rapidly changing threat environment.”
