PRESS RELEASE (93)65                                29 October 1993

                   MEETING OF NATO ARMAMENTS DIRECTORS
                          ON 28-29 OCTOBER 1993
                             IN BRUSSELS

       NATO ARMAMENTS DIRECTORS SIGN A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING FOR
       THE OPERATIONAL USE OF THE WORLDWIDE US NAVIGATION SYSTEM, THE
       NAVSTAR GPS

          Sixteen nations, represented by the National Armaments
          Directors and the Permanent Representative of Iceland to
          NATO, at their meeting of the Conference of National
          Armaments Directors (CNAD) gave their agreement to a
          Memorandum of Understanding on the operational use of NAVSTAR
          Global Positioning System, a US space based worldwide
          navigation system, to cover the period 1994-2015.

          The Chairman of CNAD and Assistant Secretary General for
          Defence Support, Mr. Robin Beard, declared that this
          achievement is a "real success of NATO armaments
          co-operation, and is an important step forward in addressing
          the interoperability challenges facing NATO's new
          multinational forces".  As all NATO Allies are henceforth
          authorized users of the Precise Positioning Service of the
          NAVSTAR GPS, efficiency of NATO forces will greatly improve
          at any time and any location, through interoperability and
          high accuracy of their positioning systems.

Point of contact: Mr. L. Klein, tel. (02) 728 4311.

                NATO ARMAMENTS DIRECTORS RECOMMEND NEW TOPICS FOR
                PRACTICAL CO-OPERATION WITH CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

          At their meeting in Brussels, NATO's National Armaments
          Directors recommended that the Alliance offer expanded
          practical co-operation with Central and Eastern European
          states on issues related to the planning, organization and
          management of national defence procurement programmes.
          Emphasizing the key role of defence resource management in
          the development of transparent and accountable democratic
          control over military planning, Armaments Directors gave
          their strong support to a number of specific activities, to
          include multinational expert team missions, the provision of
          NATO documentation and expert workshops and seminars, to be
          included in the North Atlantic Co-operation Council's 1994
          Work Plan for Dialogue, Partnership and Co-operation.

          According to the Chairman of the CNAD, Mr. Robin Beard, the
          involvement of the community of expertise brought together
          under the CNAD in NATO's outreach programme would "mark a
          significant expansion of practical co-operation, and would
          respond directly to the interest of both NATO and Central and
          Eastern European nations in expanding civilian contacts on
          defence-related matters."

Point of contact: Mr. Brent Fischmann, tel. (02) 728 4287.