NATO states plan joint maritime munition acquisition

Several North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) states intend to combine maritime munition purchases with the aim of lowering acquisition costs by achieving economies of scale.

Belgium, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, and Spain signed a Letter of Intent on Multinational Cooperation for the Provision of Maritime Battle Decisive Munitions (MBDM) in Brussels during the NATO Summit held from July 11 to 12, 2018.

The plan covers a broad range of munition types, including surface-to-air and surface-to-surface missiles, torpedoes, and gun shells.

As explained, the potential establishment of common warehousing solutions could lower costs even further.

NATO’s Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment, Camille Grand, welcomed the initiative, calling it “an important first step on the road towards creating European stockpiles of high-quality maritime munitions to meet our evolving needs. Over time, it will increase our interoperability, our ability to share our munitions and to work smoothly and effectively together, whatever the circumstances.”

This initiative follows similar efforts by NATO Allies and partners within the air and land domains.

Specifically, the defense ministers of 16 NATO Allies and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Multinational Cooperation for the Provision of Land Battle Decisive Munitions (LBDM) during the summit in Brussels. Austria and Finland will also sign the MOU immediately following the NATO Summit.