15 June 2005

NATO air power centre of excellence up and running Key Links 25/05/2005 - ACT Joint Air Power Competence Centre up and running as NATO Centre of Excellence Germany , working with other 15 countries, has opened a multinational Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) in Kalkar, Germany, to improve the Alliance's air, space, land and maritime air power operations. The JAPCC is a NATO Centre of Excellence. Centres of Excellence are nationally- or multinationally-funded training centres that work in parallel with NATO’ Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia, US, to improve NATO’s capabilities in key areas. They provide an opportunity for forces from NATO and Partnership for Peace countries to improve interoperability and capabilities, test and develop doctrine, and validate concepts through experimentation. "There are two reasons for the JAPCC," said Royal Netherlands Air Force Col. Dr. Frans Osinga, the JAPCC liaison to Alliance Command Transformation, "The first reason is that within NATO there is no operational level or strategic level staff body in dealing with air power issues. The second is that there is a need to modernise NATO's joint air power capabilities."