Top Alliance procurement officials meet at NATO’s Brussels headquarters

Top procurement officials from NATO’s 30 Allies met on Thursday (29 April 2021) to discuss ways to adopt new and emerging technologies, and speed up the development and delivery of capabilities during a one-day meeting.

“Technology has kept our militaries strong and has been key to NATO’s success throughout our 72-year history”, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană told NATO’s bi-annual Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD). “However, that dominance is being challenged by countries which do not share our values, so we need to redouble our efforts to maintain our military edge and remain competitive.”

The CNAD is NATO’s primary forum for cooperation on delivering interoperable military capabilities. Participants looked at the scope for widening the use of emerging and disruptive technologies. Directors also discussed new areas for multinational cooperation, including on maritime patrol aircraft, flight training, ground-based air defence and next generation rotorcraft.

“This Conference is at the forefront of innovation and capability development. You are managing projects ranging from exoskeletons, to directed energy weapons and to unmanned systems”, Geoană said, stressing that Allies must seize ways to benefit from new technologies, while guarding against threats from potential adversaries.

Recent NATO capability milestones include a $1 billion investment for a service life extension of NATO’s fleet of AWACS surveillance aircraft as well as the declaration of initial operational capability of the Alliance Ground Surveillance force, NATO’s fleet of five high altitude long endurance drones.

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