NATO to require its air forces to operate in all areas and conditions
NATO Joint Air Power (JAP) must be able to defend itself from the forces of its competitors and to foresee the growing role of cyber- and space-based systems, according to a new strategy plan released by NATO on June 26. A corresponding statement has been posted on the NATO website. According to the statement, JAP infrastructure “must be able to fight in all terrains and environments."
The Press Service specified that this document is the first of its kind since NATO’s founding in 1949, despite the fact that the NATO Air Force has played a central role in the organization for several decades.
"For almost 70 years, airpower has been a core part of NATO’s military capabilities," NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu said while speaking of the new strategy. NATO’s aviation, she said, from "deterring the Soviet Union during the Cold War, to operations in the Balkans in the 1990s and the fight against international terrorism in the deserts of Afghanistan, [has] helped protect people and achieve NATO's political goals."
"As we take steps to increase the readiness of armed forces across the Alliance, the new strategy will help ensure that allied air forces remain world class, flexible and ready for any possible contingencies," Lungescu pointed out.
The document, as explained in the message on the organization's website, elaborates specifically about the "current and future" security situation in which the Allied Air Forces operate and will operate. "Acknowledging that decades of uncontested air operations may be coming to a close, the strategy cautions that modern air defense systems, cyber and electronic warfare could impact NATO air operations," the statement said, adding that " allied air forces must be able to fight in all terrains and environments, including heavily defended and congested airspace. "
The organization’s recently-issued document, as is noted in the press service, is a "blueprint for the development of airpower doctrines and new capabilities" for the Alliance. NATO’s current air operations will continue despite the provisions outlined in the document, added the organization, noting that NATO published its latest document comparable to the June 26 strategy in 2011. The report released in 2011 was the Strategy of the North Atlantic Alliance.