A Case Study on ECS’ BLUE MAST Mission Partner Environment
The Challenge
Enabling Effective Coalition Communication for UKCSG25
When the U.K. prepared to deploy the HMS Prince of Wales on its 2025 Carrier Strike Group (UKCSG25) mission to the Indo-Pacific, effective coalition communication became a top priority. The UKCSG25 mission was designed to reaffirm the U.K.’s commitment to regional security and stability, strengthen international alliances through large-scale exercises, and promote trade opportunities while showcasing the defense industry.
The larger mission brings together partners including the U.S., Australia, Canada, India, Japan, and others to demonstrate a shared commitment to stability, deterrence, and stronger economic and diplomatic partnerships.
However, during the previous UKCSG deployment in 2021, ships from multiple partner nations relied on manual methods of coordination that ranged from outdated (ad hoc email) to centuries old (flags and lights). The lack of a unified, secure collaboration environment made it difficult to share operational plans and data across nations and classification levels.
For 2025, the U.K. needed a modern, interoperable solution that could bring together many partner nations for real-time planning, communication, and mission execution.
The Solution
BLUE MAST: A Secure, Multi-Domain Collaboration Environment for UKCSG25
To support the next-generation Carrier Strike Group, ECS delivered BLUE MAST: a cloud-hosted, dual-environment Mission Partner Environment (MPE), purpose-built for secure, unclassified collaboration at sea.
The platform was designed and deployed in late 2024 and onboarded users from 11 coalition nations before deployment. It now supports real-time collaboration between shore-based Maritime Operations Centers (MOCs) and CSG ships.
- Tools for collaboration, project management, and advanced visualization and analytics.
- Identity-based access controls using zero trust and Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
- Cross-domain integration, allowing coalition users to share mission-critical data securely.
- Native-language desktops to improve usability for non-English-speaking partners.
- Low-bandwidth mode optimized for at-sea communication.
ECS also delivered the Ramsey IL6 MPE to extend support into a higher classification environment, enabling the U.K. and participating partner nations to collaborate on sensitive operational planning, coordination, and evaluation. ECS’ Ramsey IL6 MPE gives coalition partners a secure space to share and access secret-level information that can be released to approved nations, resulting in improved joint planning, communications, and after-action analysis during global deployments.
The Results
Transforming Coalition Coordination at Sea
Within weeks of launch, BLUE MAST enabled UKCSG25 partners to securely plan and execute complex maritime operations. The platform allowed participants from multiple nations to:
- Collaborate on operational documents and planning schedules in real time.
- Conduct virtual meetings and working groups across time zones and ships.
- Rapidly onboard new nations as the Carrier Strike Group progressed through deployment phases.
Partner nations adopted the environment to support communication, data sharing, and evaluation activities throughout the deployment. The platform also became a central hub for after-action review and data analysis, ensuring lessons learned were accessible across all nations.
BLUE MAST represents a leap forward in multinational maritime interoperability. For the first time, coalition partners can securely plan, communicate, and coordinate operations on a shared platform, whether at sea or ashore.
Key outcomes include:
- Faster, more secure coordination across 11 partner nations.
- Improved operational readiness through unified planning and real-time collaboration.
- Reduced IT sprawl by leveraging ECS’ secure cloud-native environment, instead of disparate national systems.
- A reusable framework for future multinational missions, exercises, and joint defense operations.
