Press Statement

Thank you Tod.

First of all, I would like to welcome General Tod D. Wolters and I would like also to warmly congratulate him for his new position as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

General Wolters is a friend. We already worked together when I was the chief of the French Air Force and I am very happy to continue to work with him today.

ACT that I have the privilege and the honour to command as of last September, has established, through my predecessors, strong relationships with ACO and the Military Committee.

My teams are working daily and closely with NATO Headquarters and ACO’s staff members on the entire spectrum of military concerns.

As you know, we have evocated during these sessions today major topics and challenges that we are confronted.

One thing is essential today: that NATO must stay prepared, NATO must stay prepared for these numerous challenges!

If SACEUR is able to tackle these challenges today, it is because our current capabilities have been developed more than 15 years ago.

And this is expressly the role and the place that Allied Command for Transformation conducts to keep the Alliance’s edge.

The ACT battle is already engaged !

After few months as NATO Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, I measured how ACT, as a major innovation driving force within the Alliance for some years now, leads the efforts to renew our approach to capability development.

The speed and impact of technological advancement in defence is impossible to ignore. A number of state and non-state actors, are developing new capabilities by combining and exploiting available technologies.

In order to keep the Alliance’s edge, Allied Command for Transformation, with and through NATO headquarters, and especially under the responsibility and the authority of the Military Committee and as the head the Chairman of the Military Committee, in close cooperation with Allied Command for Operations, is to shape the future capabilities of NATO, to enhance innovation and bridge the two.  And also provide to our fighters the appropriate military tools regarding this challenging environment.

That’s the role of ACT and I should mention also that we are the NATO home in America.

Thank you for your attention.