From 13 to 17 October, SMA-RTY took part in SHINE 2025, hosted at the İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi Maritime Faculty in Istanbul. The event marked the final phase of the Innovation Continuum, a multi-stage program developed by NATO Allied Command Transformation (ACT) in collaboration with national defence innovation agencies and academic partners.

SHINE represents the culmination of a year-long journey. After contributing to the earlier phases (IGNITE and GLOW) this final stage shifted from design to field demonstration, with real-world conditions replacing theoretical discussions. Across five days of trials, SHINE brought together organisations from defence, industry, and academia to validate emerging technologies and explore new approaches to interoperability in complex maritime environments.

SHINE and the Innovation Continuum: a collaborative testbed

The Innovation Continuum is designed to accelerate the development of advanced solutions for defence applications. Each phase focuses on progressively deeper collaboration, moving from conceptual work to operational testing.

At SHINE, this approach became tangible. The campus of ITU’s Maritime Faculty turned into a full-scale testbed where unmanned systems, sensors, communication platforms, and command tools converged in coordinated activities across sea, land, and air.

For SMA-RTY, SHINE offered an ideal environment to evaluate the performance of its NGCI 5G infrastructure, designed to deliver resilient, low-latency connectivity for mission-critical applications.

NGCI 5G deployed on the Navigation Tower

Ahead of the demonstrations, SMA-RTY installed an NGCI cell on the Navigation Tower overlooking the bay. This elevated test position allowed the team to provide continuous coverage across the maritime area and support multiple partners throughout the week.
The infrastructure served as a shared communication layer for underwater vehicles, surface platforms, aerial systems, and ground robotics, enabling the interactions required for the demonstrations.

Live multidomain demonstration: systems working as one

One of the central moments of the week was the live multidomain demonstration held on 14 October. Together with Hydronet, SONİTUS Engineering, the NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE), and Sefine Shipyard – Türkiye, SMA-RTY helped recreate a coordinated maritime security scenario.

The setup simulated the detection and tracking of a vessel entering a restricted zone while autonomous underwater vehicles inspected a suspected device placed near the pier. At the same time, a robotic dog patrolled the surrounding area, sending live positional updates.
Throughout the demonstration, SMA-RTY’s NGCI 5G connectivity ensured that all systems — underwater, surface, aerial, and terrestrial — remained seamlessly interconnected.

The result highlighted the value of interoperable architectures, where diverse technologies can share information in real time and support unified situational awareness.

Testing NGCI at sea

In parallel with the demonstrations, SMA-RTY conducted a series of at-sea tests to validate NGCI’s behaviour over longer distances and under challenging maritime conditions.

Despite environmental factors such as wind, wave motion, and reflections on the water surface, NGCI maintained stable connectivity at distances of up to 3 km from the tower. These results provide important insight for ongoing development and future deployments in offshore or isolated scenarios.

A week shaped by collaboration

The closing day of SHINE 2025 was dedicated to Distinguished Visitors, offering an opportunity to reflect on the outcomes of the week and discuss how the lessons learned can inform the next phases of the Innovation Continuum.

Throughout the event, cooperation remained the central driver. The joint demonstrations, shared test environments, and continuous exchange among partners reflect a broader commitment to building communication frameworks that can support complex, evolving scenarios.

SMA-RTY extends its thanks to NATO ACT, the NCI Agency, and İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi for their coordination and support.

As SHINE concludes, the insights gained reinforce a clear message: technological progress grows through testing, sharing, and connecting, and initiatives like the Innovation Continuum play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of multidomain capabilities.