Fairfax and Stafford, Virgnia, Oct. 22, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AFCEA International and CYBER RANGES have entered into a new agreement to expand opportunities for cyber exercises that help develop skills and strengthen cyber capabilities and readiness across the U.S. and international defense communities.
Under the agreement, CYBER RANGES becomes AFCEA’s official cyber range partner for cyber exercises and cyber capabilities development, establishing a framework for the two organizations to collaborate on cyber exercises at AFCEA conferences and forums.
At the center of the partnership is AFCEA RANGE, an AFCEA-branded deployment of the CYBER RANGES platform. The environment will enable AFCEA to organize and deliver cyber exercises globally, independently or in collaboration with partners and sponsors, spanning tabletop exercises, Capture the Flag (CTF) competitions, cyber drills, cyber defense exercises and other hands-on cyber activities.
The partnership brings together AFCEA’s community across military, government, industry and academia with CYBER RANGES’ attack emulation-based synthetic environment and cyber capability development expertise. Through AFCEA RANGE, cyber exercises can provide participants, individually and as teams, with practical environments in which to develop, practice and assess cyber capabilities against evolving operational challenges.
"Cybersecurity is important, but resilience should be the ultimate objective," said AFCEA President and CEO Lt. Gen. Bruce T. Crawford, USA (Ret.). "The question is not whether organizations will face disruption. The question is whether they have prepared their people to adapt, respond and continue the mission when they do. Success depends not only on defending networks, but on building organizations that can anticipate, adapt and operate through disruption over the long term. Through this partnership, AFCEA is helping connect stakeholders across government, military, industry and academia with opportunities to repeatedly test, refine, practice and strengthen their skills in realistic cyber scenarios to build confidence in a contested environment. Resilience is developed over time, and in the ever-changing cyber environment, the workforce must continuously exercise to improve readiness and increase our collective ability to operate effectively in a contested cyber domain."
The agreement provides for CYBER RANGES to support AFCEA in the delivery of cyber exercises through dedicated remote value-added services, as well as the potential development and delivery of an annual cyber exercise.
Dr. Al Graziano, CEO for CYBER RANGES, highlights that “Cyber capability is built through practice. Allying as AFCEA’s official Cyber Range partner, we look forward to bringing scalable, hands-on cyber exercises to the association’s global military, government and intelligence defense communities and creating new opportunities to practice, learn and develop mission-ready capabilities.”
Through the partnership, AFCEA and CYBER RANGES aim to expand access to practical cyber exercises across AFCEA’s global network, supporting continued cyber skills development, collaboration and capability augmentation.
About AFCEA
AFCEA International is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit international professional association that connects people, ideas and solutions globally. Established in 1946, the membership association serves the military, government, industry and academia by developing networking and educational opportunities and providing an ethical forum. This enables military, government, industry and academia to align technology and strategy to meet the needs of those who serve.
AFCEA operates under the guidance of a board of directors, international staff and committees. A large network of chapters is managed by a group of regional vice presidents. Join online.
About CYBER RANGES
CYBER RANGES is a global vendor that provides an awarded, next-gen, attack emulation-based synthetic environment for cybersecurity training & practice, capability development, and team-based incident response exercises.
CYBER RANGES helps government agencies, military forces, and corporations enhance their digital dexterity and cyber resilience against cyber threats. In Apr. 2022 the U.S. government foundation MITRE Corporation selected CYBER RANGES as the cyber-range-of-choice for MITRE ATT&CK Defender™ and Purple Teaming.
