Military analysts and senior alliance representatives have called for deeper reform of NATO, and have renewed calls for the defence industry to adopt common standards to ensure interoperability.
There was broad consensus among delegates at the New Defence Agenda Reinventing NATO conference in Brussels on 24 May that the alliance has to change to address terrorist-led threat scenarios, with greater emphasis on long-range remote missions relying on increased airlift capability.
NATO secretary general Jaap de Hoop Scheffer called for five dimensions of transformation: intellectual, military, institutional, geographical and political. "We need to move away from tactics designed to counter a geographical invasion, towards extending the reach of the member nations' power and assistance, such as in Afghanistan, training missions in Iraq and recently agreed logistical support for the African Union in the Darfur region of Sudan," he said.
However, such co-operation could be jeopardised by incompatible systems and Gen Harald Kujat, chairman of NATO's military committee, said common standards must be adopted by manufacturers. "If you can't operate together, you not only get less efficient, but you risk mission failure and put soldiers' lives at risk. We shouldn't be a coalition of the willing, but a coalition of the interoperable," he said.
Kujat added that NATO "applauds" efforts to move towards common procurement through the creation of the European Defence Agency, but called for a greater understanding of how the European Union is advancing its own military strategies. At the moment, the two organisations have no direct communication.
De Hoop Scheffer said the need for at least informal meetings was crucial in the light of issues such as the proposed lifting of the arms embargo on China. If this led to changes in US technology transfer rules to European companies, it would have a serious impact on NATO's capabilities, he added.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE/BRUSSELS
Source: Flight International
