27-28 Apr 2005

Spring 2005 CNAD meeting makes progress on key projects News 27-28/04/2005 - NATO NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Programme Gains Momentum 28/10/2004 - NATO CNAD makes good progress on ground surveillance and missile defence Background Defence against terrorism programme Meeting at NATO HQ, 27-28 April, National Armaments Directors from NATO member states took forward a number of projects aimed at equipping the Alliance with essential new military capabilities which will provide leading edge technologies to NATO armed forces. The Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD) is the senior NATO body responsible for armaments co-operation and acquisition. A step closer to key capabilities The meeting saw NATO’s Alliance Ground Surveillance Programme gain momentum with the signing of a contract that will pave the way for the launch of the design and development phase of the programme. The CNAD also intensified efforts to develop defences against terrorism. A prototype of new technology designed to detect improvised explosive devices, the weapon of choice of terrorists around the world, is to be fielded, just one year after the launch of the CNAD Programme of Work for Defence Against Terrorism. As another example, the CNAD welcomed an offer by Slovakia to establish a new NATO Centre of Excellence for Explosive Ordnance Disposal. Progress was made on the Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence Programme with the appointment of the Deputy Director of the Programme Management Office, Mr. D. Kiefer of the United Sates. Selection of the Programme Director is expected in the near future. The office will be responsible for leading the Alliance’s efforts to develop a capability which will tie together national capabilities to protect deployed troops against ballistic missiles by 2010. Each of these projects takes NATO a step forward towards a transformation of the Alliance’s military capabilities and implementing new concepts such as network-centric warfare. Restructuring the CNAD In an important aspect of the CNAD’s transformation, the Directors also agreed to re-focus the CNAD structure into a more joint and capability-based organization. Rather than addressing army, naval and air armaments, the CNAD’s substructure will focus on specific capability areas, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Defence. Proposals for this restructuring are due to be discussed at the next CNAD meeting in October this year.