News

Today (22 August 2018), the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) received the first lot of Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs), acquired through a NATO project involving 11 Allies and one NATO partner. The PGMs, produced in the United States, will be delivered to their final recipients, Belgium and Denmark, in the coming weeks. The value of this initial acquisition is around 20 million US dollars.

2018 marks the 60th anniversary of the NATO Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme, the foundations of which were laid on 13 December 1956, when the North Atlantic Council endorsed a report to enhance non-military cooperation and coordination within NATO in line with Articles 2 and 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Known as the Report of the Three Wise Men, it proposed concrete activities to enhance cooperation in the areas of politics, economics and science. The final Report of three NATO Ministers, i.e. Lester B. Pearson (Foreign Minister of Canada), Gaetano Martino (Foreign Minister of Italy), and Halvard Lange (Foreign Minister of Norway), included a dedicated subchapter on scientific and technological cooperation.

Exactly 60 years ago, on 29 March 1958, the North Atlantic Council met in Paris where the then 15 NATO Ambassadors formally announced the establishment of a NATO Science Committee and the position of a Science Advisor to the Secretary General. Professor Norman F. Ramsey, a renowned US physicist from Harvard University who had once worked on the Manhattan Project, was appointed Science Advisor and chaired the first meeting of the NATO Science Committee, marking the foundation of the NATO Science Programme. Against the background of the launch of Sputnik1 by the Soviet Union, one of the Programme’s major goals was to promote the training of scientists within NATO countries to facilitate exchanges, build networks, and increase returns on research investments.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg accepted the Halifax Builder Award on behalf of NATO in the margins of the Halifax International Security Forum on Friday (17 November 2017). The award is presented annually to individuals or organisations which have made an outstanding contribution to strengthening cooperation amongst democracies. Mr Stoltenberg called the award “a great recognition for all those who have worked tirelessly for peace and security within the NATO Alliance”.

On Thursday (9 November 2017), Hungary, the United Kingdom, and Finland joined a long-standing multinational effort to acquire Air-to-Ground Precision Guided Munitions. During a signing ceremony, the Defence Minister of Denmark and his counterparts from the new participants signed an amendment to the existing Memorandum of Understanding to mark their official accession.

In a signing ceremony on 25 September, 2017, the current Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport Fleet (MMF) acquisition contract with industry was amended to include both Germany and Norway as participants to the MMF project along with the Netherlands and Luxembourg. This contract amendment is the direct result of the German and Norwegian decision to join the overarching Memorandum of Understanding for a European multinational fleet of Airbus tanker transport aircraft during the NATO Defence Ministerial Meeting on 29 June.

NATO has taken an important step in improving its ability to refuel aircraft in mid-air, with two Allies joining a European programme to acquire and operate new tanker transport aircraft.

NATO Allies are increasingly working to share the burden of acquiring expensive defence equipment. Today (29 June 2017), a new cooperation framework has been launched, promising more favourable terms for acquiring critical land based munitions.

On 15 March 2017, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States signed a Letter of Intent confirming the willingness for collective fuel support to NATO operations and exercises. This was the result of a smart defence initiative on multinational fuel handling capability led by France under the auspices of the NATO Petroleum Committee.

NATO has taken another important step forward to improve its ability to refuel aircraft in mid-air, with three Allies looking to join a European programme to acquire new refuelling aircraft. Today (16 February 2017), Defence Ministers from Belgium, Germany, and Norway signed a Declaration of Intent to join a European multinational fleet of Airbus tankers, created by the Netherlands and Luxembourg. The two countries launched this initiative in July 2016 and a first order was made for two Airbus A330 Multi Role Tanker Transport aircraft, which are due to be delivered in 2020. The new agreement allows other Allies to join the programme with the provision to enlarge the fleet to up to eight aircraft.