With the war in Ukraine serving as a sobering backdrop, NATO is preparing to start the next phase of two multinational air and missile defence programs that are several years in the making.
FREMONT, CA: 15 NATO allies and partners have joined an effort to field a modular, ground-based air defence system, or GBAD, that would include short-range, short-range, and medium-range defence solutions. They anticipate having the platform operational by 2028. Simultaneously, eight nations have joined forces to develop a new command and control capability for surface-based air and missile defence within a similar time frame. In an interview with Defense News, Camille Grand, NATO assistant secretary-general for defence investment, stated that these two programmes are part of the efforts to foster multinational cooperation among allies.
Air defence is a domain where it is anticipated that cooperation among allies would make a lot of sense.
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At an October 2020 meeting of NATO defence ministers, ten NATO allies and partners signed a letter of intent to move forward with the modular GBAD programme. Five new partners have joined as of April 2022. Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States comprise the current team. The alliance hopes to sign a memorandum of understanding for the effort by the end of 2022, begin the concept stage in 2023, and have a fielded capability by 2028. Once the memorandum is signed, the user requirements and funding guidelines will be established, but for the time being, off-the-shelf systems, as well as future or emerging technology solutions, are on the table. Existing solutions would be acceptable as long as they are interoperable and modular. However, there is an interest in looking at the next generation of capabilities as part of this project. The nations involved are encouraged to invest in as much of the modular system as they wish. Some allies may be interested in only one shield layer, while others may prefer the entire suite.
The available technologies, even if they come from different parts of the industry, should be fully interoperable. There is a real effort to make this work very, very smoothly so that allies who join can expand their participation by going to another layer if they so choose later. The team has already met with potential partners through the NATO Industry Advisory Group, where some companies have shared their solutions to demonstrate what is available. However, the majority of industry engagement will occur after the memorandum is signed. Meanwhile, the alliance plans to sign a memorandum of understanding to establish a multinational command-and-control capability for surface-based air and missile defence at the battalion and brigade levels, dubbed SBAMD C2 Layer. France and Hungary signed on to the initiative in April at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, joining Denmark, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
When you see countries like Latvia, Norway, and Poland involved, it is clear that they are interested in developing such capabilities for themselves. On the other hand, the 15 allies currently involved in the modular GBAD programme cover nearly the entire geographic spectrum of the alliance.
