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Defence planning in the Alliance is a fundamental element of the arrangements which enable its member countries to enjoy the crucial political, military and resource advantages of collective defence and other common military efforts to enhance security and stability. It prevents the renationalisation of defence policies, while at the same time recognising national sovereignty.
The aim of defence planning is to provide a framework within which national and NATO defence-related planning can be harmonised so as to meet the Alliance's agreed requirements in the most effective way. In other words, defence planning seeks to ensure that the Alliance has the requisite forces, assets, facilities and capabilities to fulfil its tasks throughout the full spectrum of its missions in accordance with the Strategic Concept. As such, it covers both NATO's own capabilities and those of Allied countries.
Defence planning is a comprehensive endeavour that encompasses seven different planning disciplines. There are three primary disciplines: force, resource and armaments planning; and four supporting disciplines: logistics, nuclear, C3 (consultation, command and control), and civil emergency planning. Defence planning is also related to other disciplines, such as air defence planning, standardisation, intelligence, operational planning, and force generation. Most of these disciplines are conducted with the participation of all Allies, under the aegis of the North Atlantic Council. However, force and nuclear planning are conducted without France under the authority of the Defence Planning Committee and the Nuclear Planning Group respectively.
More...In essence, defence planning existed during the Cold War but "operational planning", in the sense that we now know it, did not. This was because it was the task of force (and nuclear) planning to identify all the forces required to implement the collective defence war plans and members were expected to assign and employ the requested forces virtually without question. These war plans were, in effect, the only "operational plans" of the era.
More...Each of the defence planning disciplines are managed by a different NATO body and applies special procedures.
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