Sentry Staff
NATO will press forward on several initiatives to strengthen interoperability and collaboration, Alliance leaders said after a two-day meeting of defense ministers in Brussels in October 2024.
The “high visibility” multinational projects announced following the meeting focus on areas leaders deemed most critical for deterrence and defense, with participation from 26 member countries, according to a NATO news release. “It’s a great example of how our Alliance delivers,” said Boris Ruge, NATO’s acting deputy secretary-general.
As a top priority, defense ministers agreed to standardize artillery munitions, a move seen as key to bolstering supply chains and improving interoperability and interchangeability among Allies’ artillery systems. Since the Russia-Ukraine war began, arms manufacturers around the world have struggled to meet demand as Ukraine deploys as many as 8,000 rounds per day and stores become depleted, National Defense magazine reported. As part of this initiative, NATO will expedite development of unified standards.
Participating nations also agreed to coordinate national fire testing and certification mechanisms and ensure relevant standards remain current.
“Standards are critical to our ability to fight together, and more robust standards will help reduce defense costs,” said Mark Rutte, who led his first defense ministers meeting as NATO’s secretary-general. “We must make the most of our unique ability to act together, all 32 of us, because that is what gives our Alliance strength beyond the sum of its parts.”
Defense ministers formed teams to achieve additional goals:
- Accelerated delivery of next-generation remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), part of NATO’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Force. Allies will work closely to collect, analyze and share intelligence data across all domains, including space, to support missions and operations.
- Development of a “distributed synthetic training environment” platform integrating Allies’ individual training programs to meet the demand for virtual, immersive training at the multinational level.
- Establishment of NORTHLINK, an effort to develop a secure, resilient and reliable Arctic satellite communications network linking Nordic Allies.
- The STARLIFT initiative to enhance space launch capabilities across the Alliance, allowing Allies to launch assets on short notice, maneuver a pre-positioned spare spacecraft or buy data from commercial partners during a crisis or conflict.
- Identify a single preferred solution to replace medium multi-role helicopter capabilities under the Next Generation Rotorcraft Capability (NGRC) by 2027. Current NGRC capabilities will reach end-of-life cycle in 2035.
- Brought additional countries — Denmark, Germany, Iceland and Portugal — into NATO’s cross-border airspace cooperation initiative, bringing the total to 20 member countries to collaborate on training and operations.
United States Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin noted that in addition to being Rutte’s first defense ministerial, it was the first to include representatives from Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.
“That just underscores the importance of working with our partners in the Indo-Pacific on boosting industrial base resilience, combating disinformation and much, much more,” Austin said. “We’re forging NATO’s most robust defense plans since the end of the Cold War, and that will help ensure that we have the forces and capabilities to meet any contingency.”