Due to the global COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the Joint Air Power Competence Centre had to take the decision to cancel the JAPCC Annual Joint Air & Space Power Conference scheduled for 8 –10 December 2020 in Essen, Germany. Protecting the health, safety, and well-being of our attendees is paramount.
This read ahead material represents the largest ever submission of articles from air and space power experts worldwide to a JAPCC publication. Many of these have been specially written for this year’s Joint Air and Space Power Conference. As you read and critically appraise the articles, you will want to make notes and (perhaps furiously!) underline and highlight those parts that you take issue with. Please do this! I well remember a professor who exhorted her students (myself included) to personalise their set texts by scribbling notes in every available blank space. Her assertion was that, only by doing this, could we engage sufficiently with the material and make it our own.
The JAPCC Conference, held in Essen, Germany from 8–10 October 2019, concerned itself with Multi-Domain Operations (MDO). This paper aims to capture key messages from the conference. Rather than producing a chronological record of these discussions, it will introduce them thematically. There were several recurring key themes across the two days of the conference. These key themes were clearly ones which concerned and engaged the 344 attendees of this 2019 JAPCC Conference.
Esteemed Colleagues,
It is my privilege and pleasure to serve as your moderator for this year’s JAPCC Conference.
As in previous years, the panels for this conference follow a logical progression. Panel one has the clear task of establishing a working definition of what we actually mean by the term ‘Multi-Domain Operations’ (MDO). It would not be too dramatic to say that the rest of this conference (and, certainly, the remaining three panels) depends on the outcome of panel one. Therefore, panel one members have what is perhaps the most onerous task.
The JAPCC Conference 2018 Conference Proceedings Introduction From 9 to 11 October 2018, the Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) held its Annual Air and Space Power Conference in Essen, Germany. The conference was attended by more than 280 participants, including four NATO Air Chiefs and 55 General Officers, Flag Officers and senior civilian executives.…
In the following chapters, you will find articles that address aspects of the various topics mentioned above, intended to provide food for thought and to generate critical questions about the way ahead for our Alliance. It will be interesting to see and hear the various introductions during the conference, but also the hopefully lively discussions on these topics. This is your opportunity to contribute and we look forward to seeing and hearing from you in Essen in October!
The following Proceedings consolidate significant points from the keynote addresses, the panel discussions and attendee contributions to form a summary reference of the event and to highlight areas for future consideration and development. The document does not record the minutes of the Conference; rather, it highlights the major themes and draws together thoughts and ideas from all elements of the Conference. For a fuller understanding of the topic, readers are encouraged to read these Proceedings in conjunction with the previously published Conference Read Ahead material. In the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, no statements, opinions or ideas are attributed to any particular individual within this record.
During the Cold War, there was arguably far greater discussion of – and understanding of – the theory of deterrence, with nuclear deterrence being well studied and grasped by senior military and political leaders. Over recent decades, which have seen NATO’s involvement in expeditionary, out of area operations, it could be argued that ‘deterrence’ is an area where understanding has waned. Are the constituent parts of an effective deterrent posture well enough understood by senior political leaders, most of whom lack the previous military experience of their forebears? Can we really deter non-state actors? Does effective deterrence rely on one’s potential adversary possessing a degree of rationality? What if such rationality is absent? What does all this mean for joint air power and the air capabilities that NATO should be focussing on in both the short and longer term?
The 2016 Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) Conference was held between 4th and 6th October in Essen, Germany. It considered whether NATO’s employment of airpower over the past two decades in operations where environmental conditions have been neither contested nor congested had resulted in a reduced level of preparedness – both doctrinally and in terms of training – for alliance air power to be utilised optimally in a degraded environment.
Dear Reader, it is my great privilege and pleasure to act as the moderator for this year’s Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) Conference, which will take place over the period 4–6 October 2016 in Essen, Germany. The theme for this year’s conference is ‘Preparing NATO for Joint Air Operations in a Degraded Environment.’