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- The Defence Planning Committee of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization met in Ministerial Session in Brussels
on l8th and l9th May, 1978.
- Defence Ministers conducted their discussions against
the background of the major political and defence
issues, including future trends in East-West relations
and prospects for Alliance co-operation in defence
procurement, which will be submitted to the NATO meeting
of Heads of State and Government to take place in
Washington on 30th and 31st May. In preparation for that
meeting, they approved, for onward transmission to Heads
of State and Government, a report on the Long-Term Defence
Programme which had been commissioned at the London Summit
meeting in May 1977.
- Ministers reaffirmed the political resolve
expressed by nations at the Summit in May 1977 to meet
the challenge to their security posed by the continuing
momentum of the Warsaw Pact build-up. The resulting
widening disparity in conventional military capabilities
between NATO and the Warsaw Pact had led countries to
place emphasis on conventional force improvements and
especially on NATO's ability to maintain a credible
deterrent or to respond to an attack by ready forces after
very little warning. In this context they noted with
satisfaction that almost all countries load indicated their
intention to adjust their financial plans for defence in
accordance with the aim, established in the 1977
Ministerial Guidance, of an annual increase in defence
expenditure in the region of 3% in real terms; and that
this welcome development represented a major advance
compared with the national positions that had been reported
in the 1977 NATO Defence Review.
- Within this framework, Ministers reviewed the overall
security of the Alliance in the light of events which had
occurred since their last meeting. In particular, they
considered the present state of MBFR negotiations in Vienna
and expressed the hope that the recent Western initiative
introduced in those negotiations would meet with a positive
response. They reaffirmed the Western position in the
negotiations and the importance they attach to the
principle that NATO forces be maintained and not reduced
except in the context of a Mutual and Balanced Force
Reduction agreement with the East, which must not diminish
the collective security of the Alliance. They were also
apprised of the latest developments in the Strategic Arms
Limitations Talks and reaffirmed the importance of
continued close consultation in the Alliance on issues
arising from these talks. Ministers reaffirmed their
support for measures to achieve effective arms control and
disarmament agreements undertaken within the general
pursuit of détente and expressed the hope that the
United Nations special session on disarmament would
contribute to progress in this field, but they
stressed that, in the face of the growing Warsaw Pact
capabilities, negotiations to this end must be backed by
an appropriate deterrent and defence posture.
- Ministers heard a statement by the Chairman of
the NATO Military Committee on the latest
developments and growth in the military capabilities
of the Warsaw Impact and their implications for the
military balance with NATO. They expressed their concern
that the military power of the Soviet Union continued to
grow, in particular in its capabilities to deploy new
offensive weapon systems against the whole of the European
theatre and to project its power, whether directly or
by proxy, on a global scale. Ministers discussed the
implications of these developments for Western security.
- Ministers noted with approval that important measures
had been taken, or were in train, to counter the existing
adverse trends in the balance of conventional forces
between NATO and the Warsaw Pact, Under NATO's established
defence planning procedures, they endorsed new force goals
for the period 1979-1984 which cover the spectrum of NATO's
forces. These force goals and the Long-Term Defence
Programme are inter-related and complementary. Ministers
recognized that the implementation of the force goals
would be a major contribution towards meeting the
challenge posed by the continuing build-up of Warsaw Pact
forces.
- Ministers agreed that there is an urgent need for
Portugal and Turkey to receive external assistance for the
support and modernization of their forces. They
acknowledged that despite the scale of the efforts that
these two countries were making for their contribution to
common defence, it was the responsibility of all the Allies
to take the necessary steps to provide the essential
assistance. In this connection, Ministers noted the
initiative underway for the complete removal of
existing United States restrictions on the procurement of
defence equipment by Turkey and emphasized the
importance for the security and solidarity of the
Alliance of a speedy and positive outcome to these
initiatives.
- Ministers affirmed that the Long-Term Defence
Programme was designed in particular to meet the need
for a more comprehensive framework for NATO's defence
planning, incorporating a longer-term approach, and thus
enabling the collective needs of the Alliance to be taken
more into account in the development of national plans.
They noted with satisfaction that the measures submitted
to them contributed to this objective, both in the
projection of NATO's military needs up to and beyond 1990
and the emphasis placed on the achievement of a greater
degree of co-operation and rationalization in meeting those
needs. Through this greater co-operation and
rationalization, NATO will aim to achieve a significant
increase in its defensive capability from the national
resources already made available or planned for the defence
of the Alliance.
- Within the Long-Term Defence Programme, Ministers
approved, or endorsed for submission to Heads of State and
Government, a wide range of measures in selected priority
areas. Special importance has been attached to
achieving significant improvements in the readiness
of NATO forces, particularly their availability and
survivability; in the ability of the Alliance to reinforce
in a period of crisis or tension with complementary
improvements to European reserves; in the air defence of
NATO territory and sea areas; in countering the electronic
warfare threat; and in the provision of effective logistic
support for all NATO forces. Special emphasis had also been
placed on improving NATO's maritime posture, NATO's
command, control and communications arrangements to
facilitate political and military decision making,
especially in time of tension or crises and on further
rationalization of NATO's defence efforts. They also
endorsed the progress made by the Nuclear Planning
Group towards meeting medium and long-term needs for the
modernization of theatre nuclear forces. Ministers have
recommended that support for the Long-Term Defence
Programme should be sought at the highest political level
by Heads of State and Government.
- Ministers have also noted that appropriate action will
be taken by the Defence Planning Committee in Permanent
Session on a number of subsidiary measures directly
related to the main programmes, including no cost/low
cost measures which, taken together, produce worthwhile
defence improvements at relatively small cost and are
capable in many cases of implementation in the short-term.
Ministers noted that follow-through action will be taken
at NATO and international military headquarters, including
a study on strengthening of international machinery.
- Ministers heard with interest a statement by Mr.
Willem Scholten, Defence Minister of the Netherlands and
Chairman of the Eurogroup this year. They took note of the
outcome of the Eurogroup's discussions in Ministerial
Session and welcomed the progress made towards closer
collaboration in the fields covered by its seven
sub-groups. They reaffirmed their support for the role of
the Eurogroup in furthering European cohesion in the
framework of the North Atlantic Alliance and in particular
in contributing to the implementation of the Long-Term
Defence Programme.
- Ministers took note of a report by the Conference of
National Armaments Directors (CNAD) on major issues in the
field of equipment collaboration and in particular the
activities of the Alliance to improve the standardization
and/or inter-operability of defence equipment. They
welcomed especially the initiatives of ten member nations
in signing an agreement to observe and contribute to a
development programme for a highly accurate satellite
navigational system.
- Ministers noted a report on the NATO Armaments
Planning Review and stressed the importance of further
progress in the review and in the development of a periodic
armaments planning system.
- Ministers expressed support for other efforts
being made to improve standardization/interoperability
of defence equipment, including the need to establish
a more balanced two-way traffic. They noted the progress
made in developing a transatlantic dialogue between North
America and Europe on armaments co-operation, as well as
bilateral and multilateral co-operation by Alliance members
on specific equipment programmes. They expressed their
resolve to pursue Co-operatively specific equipment
programmes recommended by the Long-Term Defence Programme.
- Ministers took note of a comprehensive package
proposal for the procurement of a force of E-3 aircraft as
a major component of a NATO Airborne Early Warning Force.
They agreed to expedite the review of this proposal through
national channels with a view to final decision on the
programme before the Autumn. They noted that
NATO-funded initial development activities associated
with a standardized configuration for United States and
NATO E-3 aircraft were underway and agreed to continue
these activities in anticipation of completion of
national review processes. They agreed that the
Federal Republic of Germany should be the host nation for
the NATO E-3 Main Operating Base.
- Ministers, reaffirming that the common infrastructure
programme remains one of NATO's most effective co-operative
defence efforts, noted the progress being made in the
preparation of the next five-year programme which will be
submitted to them for approval in December 1978. Ministers
also noted the need for an increase in the common
infrastructure financial ceiling to accommodate urgent
projects including aspects of the Long-Term Defence
Programme, as well as price increases.
- In conclusion, Ministers reaffirmed that the common
defence of the Alliance is one and indivisible. They
stressed that the maintenance of security is indispensable
for the continued freedom, individual liberty and welfare
of their societies and for the furthering of détente. They
acknowledged that the basis of Alliance security lay in the
political solidarity and the mutual support among the
member nations and the scale of effort they were prepared
to undertake for the common defence.
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