- 5th Generation Aviation
Combat Air
Combat Air (CA) is the heart of Joint Air Power. NATO’s ability to deter and defend relies on the freedom of manoeuvre throughout all domains. CA contributes to that freedom by providing Air Superiority, Suppression of Enemy Air Defences, Air Interdiction, Electromagnetic Operations, Close Air Support, Integrated Air and Missile Defence, NATO Ballistic Missile Defence, and Personnel Recovery. This Branch incorporates manned and unmanned platforms, with fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, and draws from all components within Alliance air and space forces.
Featured Publications
An MDO Approach to NATO’s Counter-IADS Strategy
Integrating Suppression of Enemy Air Defences and Cyber-Electromagnetic Activities
Integrating SEAD and CEMA is more than a procedural improvement; it changes how NATO defeats a modern IADS Russia’s war in Ukraine has shattered long-held assumptions about air superiority. Events of the past four years [...]
Countering Russia’s Glide Bomb Warfare in Ukraine
Observations and Lessons for NATO on Neutralising Long-Range Weapons
The Russia-Ukraine war has served as a proving ground for military innovation on both sides of the conflict. While Ukrainian forces pioneered small, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) technology to stall ground assaults, Russia’s most effective [...]
Redesigning NATO’s Targeting Enterprise for Peer Conflict
Digitizing the Kill Chain at the Tactical Edge
NATO’s targeting enterprise is not fit for purpose. As a legacy of two decades of counterinsurgency (COIN), counterterrorism (CT), and wars against weak nation states, the Alliance lacks the targeting capability required to meet the [...]
