Eng. / Fr.
To meet immediate and potential challenges, NATO continues to work on a broad and multifaceted set of activities: from long term, broad strategic thinking down to practical planning involving military and civilian structural adjustments, personnel issues, equipment procurement and the development of new technologies.
It is taking a series of measures to:
NATO has also been focusing on means to fight terrorism and address the spread of weapons of mass destruction.
The multifaceted nature of terrorism is such that NATO has engaged in a number of initiatives – political, operational, conceptual, military and technological – to address this issue.
More...A primary aim of the Alliance is to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction or, should proliferation occur, to reverse it through diplomatic means. The Allies have taken a comprehensive set of practical initiatives to defend their populations, territory and forces against potential WMD threats.
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The range of operations and missions undertaken by the Alliance has highlighted a number of areas in which NATO requires new or improved capabilities.
The NATO Response Force
The NATO Response Force (NRF) is a joint, multinational force designed to respond rapidly to emerging crises across the full spectrum of Alliance missions, ranging from disaster relief or peacekeeping to high-intensity war-fighting. Made up of land, air, maritime and special forces components, it can commence deployment with as little as five days’ notice and sustain itself on operations for 30 days, or longer if re-supplied
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Improving air- and sealift capabilities
Strategic air-and sealift capabilities are vital to ensure NATO countries can deploy their forces and equipment quickly to wherever they are needed. NATO member countries have pooled their resources to acquire special aircraft and ships that will give the Alliance the capability to transport troops, equipment and supplies across the globe.
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Improving information superiority
Information superiority aims to ensure that information and situational awareness are more quickly available to member countries than to potential adversaries. By sharing information, data and intelligence reliably, securely and without delay during NATO-led operations, information superiority helps member countries achieve their desired ends with smaller forces.
At the Riga Summit in November 2006, Allied leaders agreed to support efforts to achieve information superiority. Key to these efforts is the implementation of a NATO Network-Enabled Capability, which aims to make all operational elements, from the strategic down to tactical levels, procedurally and digitally interoperable. The Alliance is also working to improve its maritime situational awareness abilities and the airborne Alliance Ground Surveillance system.
Alliance Ground Surveillance
The Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system is a key element of the Alliance's transformation and an essential enabling capability for the NATO Response Force (NRF) and other forces. The AGS is an airborne, stand-off ground surveillance system that can detect and track vehicles, such as tanks, trucks or helicopters, moving on or near the ground, in all weather conditions.
More...Reviewing NATO’s defence planning process
A key aim is to help member countries generate forces that can reach further and faster, yet still take on the full range of missions. Work has been undertaken on NATO's defence planning process to make the process more flexible.
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Streamlining the military command structure
NATO has streamlined its military command arrangements to provide a leaner, more efficient, effective and deployable command structure. The restructuring, launched in 2002, was based on agreed minimum military requirements for the Alliance’s command arrangements. It has resulted in a significant reduction in headquarters and Combined Air Operations Centres. More importantly, it reflects a fundamental shift in Alliance thinking.
In addition, a review of the peacetime establishment of the command structure is ongoing with the aim of examining the missions, roles and tasks of peacetime staffing of the structure in its present geographical distribution.
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Civil emergency planning
The aim of Alliance civil emergency planning is to collect, analyse and share information on national planning activity to ensure the most effective use of civil resources for use during emergency situations, in accordance with Alliance objectives.
Close civil-military cooperation is key to ensuring the correct mix
of capabilities in support of civil populations. NATO facilitates such
cooperation through a range of civilian instruments and capabilities
developed in the framework of its civil emergency planning activities.
Coordinated civil-military planning is becoming especially important
in the context of NATO’s military support to stabilization and reconstruction
in theatres of operations. Experience has shown that in many cases,
peace can only be sustained through coordinated stabilization and reconstruction
efforts. Support for such efforts is often an essential part of a mission,
even while combat operations are still under way. In coordination with
other international efforts, NATO is addressing the need to support
stabilization and reconstruction in all phases of a crisis, starting
with planning. Through NATO civil emergency planning instruments, military
planners can also draw on civilian expertise, in areas such as critical
infrastructure, transport, food, water, agriculture, communications,
health and industry.
Cyber defence
NATO is developing new measures to enhance the protection of its communication and information systems against attempts at disruption through attacks or illegal access. These efforts form practical aspects of a new NATO policy on cyber defence.
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The Allies are also working to address potential challenges that may develop over the long term.
Missile defence
In response to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems, including missiles of all ranges, NATO is pursuing projects aimed at protecting Alliance forces, territory and populations against missile threats
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Energy security
The disruption of the flow of vital resources could affect Alliance security interests. In a declaration at the Riga Summit in November 2006, Allied leaders confirmed their support for a coordinated, international effort to assess risks to energy infrastructure and to promote energy infrastructure security.
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