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Mitigating Disinformation Campaigns Against Air Power

In military operations over the last twenty years, air power has repeatedly proven to be NATO’s great asymmetric advantage. Air power’s ability to accurately strike targets, support troops on the ground, provide accurate and timely intelligence, and transport troops, equipment and supplies over vast distances give NATO an incomparable advantage against its enemies. Moreover, in a crisis, it is air power that is the first responder due to its ability to react quickly and with precision. Yet, it is air power’s very success that makes it the main target for information warfare waged against NATO. In this information battle waged by NATO’s opponents, disinformation is a primary weapon and air power is a primary target.

Joint Air & Space Power Conference 2017 Read Ahead

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?

Annual Report 2016

We are very pleased to present the Annual Report of the JAPCC for 2016. We must praise the quality and dedication of the personnel contributed by our Sponsoring Nations to the JAPCC team. The very high standard of work they delivered has allowed the JAPCC to influence the development and transformation of NATO Joint Air and Space Power through a wide range of activities.

Journal 23

It is my great pleasure to present you the 23rd Edition of the JAPCC Journal. Themes that permeated the JAPCC’s program of work throughout 2016 include: challenges posed by contemporary and prospective threat environments, the future role of air and space power, and the requirements for developing modern, efficient, interoperable capabilities to include the associated education and training. This range of issues is well reflected in the broad selection of essays provided by external and internal subject matter experts for this Journal issue.

Air Transport Training, Exercises and Interoperability

This JAPCC study examines the current status of interoperability and the multinational training opportunities across Europe. Our intent in this update is to provide a comprehensive reference manual for basic and advanced training opportunities available to Alliance mobility forces. Interoperability is the name of the game with regard to global operations and this certainly applies to Air Transport within NATO. From local exercises to sustained expeditionary operations, the ability of nations to work with each other with minimal or even no barriers is paramount. While being constantly sought after, interoperability is still not a standard and the nations must continue to work to make it so.

Proceedings 2016

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.

Future Unmanned System Technologies – Legal and Ethical Implications of Increasing Automation

The level of automation built into unmanned systems has not only increased significantly, but has also reached a level of sophistication at which they are seemingly capable of performing many tasks ‘autonomously’ and with no necessity for direct human supervision. The study provides a brief overview of the current state of technology in the field of system automation and looks at possible future developments. The study outlines the legal requirements a highly automated unmanned system has to meet if NATO nations seeks to introduce this kind of technology and wants to comply with International Humanitarian Law.

Alliance Airborne Anti-Submarine Warfare

Following a Request for Support from Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), the JAPCC completed this study to investigate the current Maritime Air support capability for Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW). The aim of this project is to define the current challenges experienced by ASW-capable air platforms in both today’s operational environment and in a range of possible future environments assessing whether the Alliance has a capability shortfall in the ASW mission area. This will involve a review of environmental challenges, oceanography and NATO’s Maritime Air history with this mission to set the stage for detailed discussions about the current and future challenges in the ASW domain.

Joint Air & Space Power Conference 2016 Read Ahead

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.’

Journal 22

It is my great pleasure to present you the 22nd Edition of the JAPCC Journal. The opening article of this edition is an interview with The Netherlands’ Air Chief Lieutenant General Schnitger, who offers us his perspective on future airpower requirements and how the RNLAF shall be kept ‘Fit for the Future’ by a program called the ‘Air Force 3.0’. We greatly appreciate his senior leader’s perspective. In this editorial, I’ll depart from my tradition of discussing upcoming articles to talk about a couple of things that are significant to Joint Air and Space Power in NATO today, Anti-Access / Area Denial (A2AD) and the Joint Air Power Strategy.