Top NATO procurement officials discuss bolstering stockpiles

For months, NATO Allies have been providing billions of euros worth of weapons and equipment to Ukraine to help uphold its right to self-defence against Russia’s illegal war. Addressing the Conference of National Armaments Directors, the Deputy Secretary General urged Allies to continue replenishing stocks as rapidly as possible. “Our unprecedented support for Ukraine has made extraordinary demands on our resources, so backfilling capabilities and inventories is now a critical mission for armaments directors,” Mr Geoana said, building on the message by the Secretary General to the Conference at their extraordinary meeting on 27 September. “We need to ensure that we have the munitions we need to credibly deliver on deterrence and defence in a more dangerous world, and to continue to provide support to Ukraine for however long it takes,” he added.

Participants focussed on ways to ramp up production of key capabilities, address supply chain issues, and increase the interoperability of Allied systems. The governance of major armaments programmes, innovation and standardisation also featured heavily in the talks, which were also attended by representatives from experts from the European Union to ensure coherence between respective initiatives. The Conference of National Armaments Directors is NATO’s primary forum for cooperation on delivering interoperable military capabilities.