06 June 2002
NATO Sets New Force Goals, Welcomes U.S.-Russia Summit Results
(Defense Planning Committee, Nuclear Planning Group communique) (1400)
NATO's Defense Planning Committee and Nuclear Planning Group met in
ministerial session in Brussels June 6 and adopted a new set of force
goals for the next six years that are designed to give the alliance a
faster, more flexible method to meet the security threats of the 21st
century.
In a final communique, the ministers identified several key
capabilities that require development including defense against
nuclear, chemical and biological weapons; strategic transport; and
air-to-air refueling. They also noted the important role that
reprioritisation, multinational cooperation, and common funding will
play in achieving these new force goals.
"To facilitate such common programmes, we intend to devote particular
attention to efficient ways of managing collaborative projects and
coordinating defence acquisition. However, in many cases additional
financial resources will also be required. We undertake to give a high
priority in our national defence plans to implementation of the 2002
NATO Force Goals and to seek the necessary resources to ensure this,"
they said.
At the Nuclear Planning Group meeting, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld briefed ministers on the results of the recent U.S.-Russia
summit, in particular the treaty signed by Presidents Bush and Putin
that reduces each side's nuclear arsenals to 1,700-2,200 operationally
deployed warheads.
The ministers said they place "great value on the nuclear forces based
in Europe and committed to NATO, which provide essential political and
military linkage between the European and the North American members
of the Alliance."
Following is the text of their final communique:
(begin text)
NATO Press Release (2002)071
6 June 2002
FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ
MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE DEFENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE AND THE NUCLEAR
PLANNING GROUP HELD IN BRUSSELS ON 6 JUNE 2002
1. The Defence Planning Committee and Nuclear Planning Group of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization met in Ministerial Session in
Brussels on 6 June 2002.
2. We reaffirmed our determination that, to carry out the full range
of its missions, NATO must be able to field forces that can move
quickly to wherever they are needed, sustain operations over distance
and time, and achieve their objectives. In this context, we adopted a
new set of NATO Force Goals covering the period until 2008. We
welcomed the decision by Iceland to participate in the Force Goal
process for the first time.
3. To ensure that the Alliance has the structures and deployable
forces capable of fulfilling its fundamental security tasks in a
changing strategic environment, including responding to the threats
posed by terrorism and the proliferation of Weapons of Mass
Destruction, there is a need to look again at the Alliance's overall
command and control structures. Towards this end, there is an urgent
need to take forward and build upon the ongoing assessment of the
Alliance's overall command arrangements. The implications of the
changing strategic circumstances, and the associated risks and
potential threats, for NATO's ability to fulfil the full range of its
missions must be fully taken into account in the course of this work.
This review must be comprehensive, embracing all elements of NATO's
command structure, including the Combined Joint Task Force
Headquarters, and the headquarters of the NATO force structure, with
the aim of defining the minimum military requirements. Therefore,
today we directed the NATO Military Authorities to take forward this
work with urgency and report back to us at our meeting in September to
enable us to give further guidance for the preparation of specific
recommendations for decisions to be taken at the Prague Summit. Our
intention is that the Heads of State and Government at Prague should
establish clear guidance and a firm timeframe for completing this
work, so that decisions on command arrangements can be taken by the
Summer of 2003.
4. In considering Force Goals 2002, we noted in particular that they
address to a large extent military capabilities needed to respond to
terrorism. We also considered how far they address the key areas for
improvement identified in the Defence Capabilities Initiative. The
Force Goals continue to focus on the development of better-equipped,
deployable, sustainable forces and their restructuring. They also
incorporate, to a large extent, requirements derived from the review
of the NATO force structure which has been undertaken by NATO's
military authorities and which aims at the development of more
deployable forces. In the light of the changing strategic environment,
while the overall requirement for land combat forces has declined, the
requirement for ground combat forces that are deployable has more than
doubled.
5. We therefore recognise that the ability of the Alliance to fulfil
its missions in the current strategic environment depends on our
ability to increase substantially the proportion of our combat forces
and support forces that can be deployed on operations away from home
territory or without substantial host nation support. This is a
significant challenge and we are committed to meet it. On the basis of
discussions on the development of the Force Goals, it is clear that
more effort needs to be focussed on the development of key
capabilities including defence against nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons, strategic transport, support capabilities for
combat units and a number of specialised capabilities such as
surveillance and target acquisition, support jamming and air-to-air
refuelling. We noted that reprioritisation, multinational cooperation
and role sharing, including where appropriate by means of joint or
common funding or through commonly-owned and operated NATO systems
such as AWACS, will have an important role to play in overcoming these
deficiencies. To facilitate such common programmes, we intend to
devote particular attention to efficient ways of managing
collaborative projects and coordinating defence acquisition. However,
in many cases additional financial resources will also be required. We
undertake to give a high priority in our national defence plans to
implementation of the 2002 NATO Force Goals and to seek the necessary
resources to ensure this.
6. At our Nuclear Planning Group meeting, we reviewed the status of
NATO's nuclear forces and addressed related issues and activities. We
received with appreciation information by the United States Secretary
of Defense on the results of the recent Summit meeting between
Presidents Putin and Bush at Moscow and St. Petersburg, particularly
with regard to the further development of the New Strategic Framework
between the United States and Russia. We welcomed the results of the
Summit and expressed our full support for its agreement on a Treaty to
reduce, over the next decade, U.S. operationally deployed strategic
nuclear warheads to a level of between 1,700 and 2,200 and to reduce
Russian strategic nuclear warheads to the same level.
7. We recalled that NATO's sub-strategic nuclear forces have been
reduced by over 85 percent since 1991, and are maintained at the
minimum level sufficient to preserve peace and stability. In this
context, we provided guidance to further adapt NATO's dual-capable
aircraft posture. We reaffirmed that the fundamental purpose of the
nuclear forces of the Allies is political: to preserve peace and
prevent coercion and any kind of war. We continue to place great value
on the nuclear forces based in Europe and committed to NATO, which
provide essential political and military linkage between the European
and the North American members of the Alliance.
8. In this regard, we note that deterrence and defence, along with
arms control and non-proliferation, will continue to play a major role
in the achievement of the Alliance's security objectives. We
reaffirmed our determination to contribute to the implementation of
the conclusions of the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review
Conference and welcomed the full discussion of issues at the
Preparatory Conference for the 2005 Review Conference in April this
year. We continue to support the existing moratoria on nuclear
testing.
9. We expressed satisfaction with the results of the Joint Seminar of
NATO and Russian nuclear experts, held at The Hague in April 2002, to
deal with topics of nuclear safety and security. The Seminar
represented the first step in further advancing consultations and
cooperation on NATO proposals for confidence and security building
measures to enhance transparency between the two sides on nuclear
weapons issues. In this context, we welcomed the additional impetus
and focus provided by the results of the Putin-Bush Summit for this
work.
http://www.nato.int
press@hq.nato.int
B-1110 Brussels/Bruxelles
Tel: 32 (0)2 707 50 41
Fax: 32 (0)2 707 50 57
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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