MASS delivers Joint Venture 2025

Image courtesy Cohort

Taking place in November 2025, Joint Venture tested all components of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters Group (SJFHQ Gp) – including SJFHQ, JFHQ and JFLogC (Joint Force Logistics Component) – across the full cycle of planning, deployment and execution of UK sovereign tasks in a broader NATO context.

The exercise saw up to 200 military personnel deployed across two fixed locations and several remote nodes spread across Europe, allowing the Headquarters to train as it would operate in reality. Delivering the exercise, IWC’s Joint Force Training department used MASS to provide comprehensive training support, including exercise design, preparation, delivery and analysis, as part of its ongoing work under the Joint Command and Staff Training (JCAST) contract for the UK Ministry of Defence’s Cyber and Specialist Operations Command (CSOC).

To enhance the training experience for IWC’s target audience, MASS introduced new synthetic environment capabilities into the JCAST contract to leverage the latest VR and simulation technologies. As part of Joint Venture 2025, two advanced tools – VR Forces’ 3D animation and Hadean’s PopulAI – were deployed for the first time, providing an unprecedented level of fidelity and granularity in the simulated operating environment. Together these technologies create a more immersive, data-rich setting that mirrors the realities of modern multidomain operations.

Brigadier Matt Baker, Head Warfare Development, IWC (Exercise Director Ex JV25) said, “JOINT VENTURE 25 was the flagship exercise for the Standing Joint Force Headquarters to prepare them in their role as Defence’s High-Readiness 2-star Operational Headquarters. The cooperation of the Integrated Warfare Centre (Joint Force Training) and our technical partner MASS has been highly effective in delivering an exercise that has challenged the training audience and provided a way to identify valuable lessons to enhance the performance and effectiveness of the HQ.” 

Long-term MASS partner, 4C Strategies also provided its Main Events List / Main Incidents List (MEL/MIL) management within its Exonaut platform, which seamlessly integrates with other systems across the training environment. Exonaut was used extensively during the planning phase of the exercise and provided the digital management and control for the execution phase of the exercise. Using Exonaut enabled Exercise Control (ExCON) to dynamically add injects – based on captured observations and insights, adjusting the course of the exercise to better meet objectives and validate the SJFHQ Gp.

Keith Norton, Managing Director at MASS, said: “Joint Venture 2025 represents a critical opportunity to test the UK’s operational readiness and integration with NATO partners. By ensuring that training replicates the pressures, complexities and dynamics of modern operations, we create an environment where personnel can think and act with operational freedom.”

The exercise directly supports the UK’s Defence objectives outlined in the Strategic Defence Review, strengthening the nation’s operational readiness. Joint Venture 2025 will ensure the UK’s Operational HQ is prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to emerging threats.

Keith Norton added: “Working in close partnership with the UK Operational HQ to align the exercise with their core training objectives, we’re able to build a programme to achieve the desired outcome and ensure that the training audience can learn from their experience in the simulated world. Joint Venture 2025 is not an isolated event but an integral part of the MoD’s wider preparedness plan.”