Journal Edition 26 Editorial After four thrilling years in Kalkar, my tour as the JAPCC Assistant Director and my time as the Editor of this Journal ends in August 2018. Editing the Journal was probably one of the most time consuming, but rewarding, tasks I had in my entire portfolio. The countless contributions we received…
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!
Journal Edition 25 Editorial 2017 was another fruitful year for the JAPCC. While we continued our core business as NATO’s catalyst for the improvement and transformation of Joint Air and Space Power; some significant projects were completed and many new interesting work strands were initiated. Our ongoing efforts to improve cooperation amongst NATO, EU and…
It is our great pleasure to present the results of last year in the Joint Air Power Competence Centre Annual Report 2017. The past year was another successful one for the JAPCC. While we continued our core business as NATO’s catalyst for the improvement and transformation of Joint Air and Space Power; several significant projects were completed, and many new interesting activities were initiated. This was largely due to the hard work and commitment of the outstanding women and men provided by our sponsoring nations.
Given the strategic nature of airbases and the vulnerability of most, if not all of the assets grouped on them, it is apparent that the methods of protecting them will have to become much better. As a key component, this process will require dedicated, air-minded Force Protection (FP) forces that are specifically trained and organised for the task.
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.
One method of quickly employing ground forces is through airmobile operations. When airmobile forces are employed by helicopter, part of their equipment is transported as an Underslung Load (USL) underneath the helicopter. For NATO forces to operate in a combined manner, it is essential that the equipment of one nation be transportable by the helicopters of another nation. Although Helicopter Underslung Load Equipment (HUSLE) and helicopter USL standards are available and approved in NATO, interoperability appears to be limited.
As a vital component in the projection of Air Power, Cyberspace has surpassed its mark as an enabler, now recognized as not only critical to mission assurance but a Domain of operations in itself. Consequently, it is critical that the systems operating in Cyberspace be secure, reliable and available and establishing these criteria by employing defensive measures alone may be insufficient.
NATO is facing an increasingly diverse, unpredictable and demanding security environment, ‘an arc of insecurity and instability along NATO’s periphery and beyond’. In recent times this has led to a range of steps by NATO to reinforce its collective defence, enhance its capabilities, and strengthen its resilience. NATO has committed itself to provide its armed forces with sufficient and sustained resources, thereby underlining its stated strategic intent that ‘NATO’s essential mission is unchanged and that NATO will ensure that it has the full range of capabilities necessary to fulfil the whole range of Alliance missions, including to deter and defend against potential adversaries, and the full spectrum of threats that could confront the Alliance from any direction’.
Network technology is expanding at an exponential rate. As technology improves, effectively unlimited connectivity is no longer strictly a future concept; however, combined decision-making and data sharing processes (or maybe ‘protocols’) are not evolving at the same speed as technology. Machines will boost communication in a networked environment to levels yet to be determined. This will require nations and the Alliance to alter current communication patterns.