Smart Defence: what does it mean?

Smart Defence: What does it mean?

What is Smart Defence?

Smart Defence is a new way

of looking at how we can

as an Alliance develop better

capabilities at an affordable cost.

Multinational cooperation

is at the heart of Smart Defence.

These are the main components

of the Smart Defence agenda:

multinational cooperation,

specialisation

and prioritisation

of our defence spending.

What stage are we

at with Smart Defence?

It's learning by doing, Smart Defence,

through a range

of very concrete, practical projects

that are currently

being discussed by nations.

And we have said that we will have

a first batch of about 25 projects

that groups of nations

will be ready to lead,

starting at the Chicago Summit.

So, these projects provide really

the practical, pragmatic foundation

of the Smart Defence agenda.

We see the Chicago Summit really

the start of Smart Defence,

rather than an end point.

Can you give examples

of Smart Defence projects?

For instance

there is a project led by Italy

to acquire, with a group of nations,

new capabilities to clear roads

from roadside bombs

and other improvised

explosive devices.

That is an important lesson

learnt from Afghanistan.

So we want to use state

of the art technology to do just that,

with a group of nations. So, that is

one example of a new capability.

We also have projects that deal

with logistics and maintenance.

Optimising the maintenance

of helicopters, for instance,

when they are deployed,

like in Afghanistan,

rather than organising this

at national level.

How can Smart Defence

help improve existing forces?

Each and every nation has its own

tradition, its own military culture,

but also its own defence industry,

its own strengths.

Some nations are more oriented

towards the maritime domain,

others have more focus

on land forces, and so on.

But we have a project led

by Germany on pooling and sharing

of maritime patrol aircrafts.

This is a shortfall area in the Alliance.

Several nations do have those

capabilities on an individual basis,

but by putting them together

you have a more interesting batch

of capabilities,

or more important capability

and more flexibility

in using those capabilities.

What is the role of NATO nations?

It's important

to understand that NATO itself

does not buy capabilities itself.

There are some exceptions to that,

but in general the capabilities

are provided by the nations.

So, the initial phase

of our Smart Defence approach was

almost completely focused

on getting national buy-in,

to better understand what nations

expect from Smart Defence initiative.

There is a very strong focus

on building it bottom-up.

On the other hand,

we don't want this to become,

and nations

do not want this to become,

an exercise

in coalitions of the willing,

with small groups of nations

who do different things together

without any form of coordination.

What NATO tries to do,

is to provide this overall framework.

What guarantee is there

that pooled resources will be shared?

It will be difficult to have a 100

per cent solution to that, because,

at the end of the day,

nations will always have their say

on the capabilities that they own.

They own either as a national

or as a multinational capability.

But what kind of incentives

can we provide the nations

to make those capabilities available?

What kind of flexible mechanisms

can we put in place to enhance

the availability of those

critical, enabling capabilities?

What role does industry

play in Smart Defence?

We see industry as a key partner

in Smart Defence initiative.

The industry is confronted

with a decline in defence budgets

throughout Europe

and the market is shrinking.

And I think the industry

will also see that through NATO

they can approach groups of nations,

rather than going

to those nations individually.

That is certainly an advantage

that the industry will recognise

in the Smart Defence initiative.

Why will Smart Defence

work this time?

I think because the conditions

are different.

There is clearly the economic crisis.

That is...

That can be seen as an impetus for

working together more intensively,

more than was the case in the past.

National budgets are reduced.

All our operations

are multinational in nature.

Our soldiers are deployed

in multinational units.

It makes no sense really to develop

capabilities at a national level.

It's one thing buying the capabilities,

it's another thing using them

and connecting the capabilities

of the allied forces.

So, I think both

from the economic perspective,

from the operational

perspective as well,

this is no longer a policy option.

It's a sheer necessity.