Logistics support
for NATO operations
February 2006
Logistics support for NATO operations
Logistics is of vital importance for any military operation. Without it, operations could not be
carried out and sustained. This is especially evident with NATO’s out-of-area operations.
The new missions of the Alliance are radically different from those it faced during the Cold War.
NATO has now been involved in out-of-area operations for over a decade. During the 1990s,
these operations were still in Europe, but the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States
led to NATO foreign ministers removing all geographical limits to NATO’s area of operations at
their meeting in Reykjavik in May 2002.
This poses obvious logistic challenges and NATO logistics doctrine is evolving accordingly
while at the same time various initiatives are underway to develop the required capabilities.
Logistics defined
NATO defines logistics as the science of planning and carrying out the movement and
maintenance of forces. Under this agreed definition, logistics covers the following areas
of military operations:
• design and development, acquisition, storage, transport, distribution, maintenance,
evacuation and disposal of materiel;
• transport of personnel;
• acquisition, construction, maintenance, operation and disposition of facilities;
• acquisition or provision of services;
• medical and health service support.
These areas involve a wide range of services and responsibilities subdivided into the input
and output sides of logistics:
• production or acquisition aspects of logistics (research, design, development, manufacture
and acceptance of equipment). This is primarily a national responsibility. However, co-
operation and coordination take place within NATO in many areas, largely under the
auspices of the Conference of National Armament Directors and its subordinate bodies.
• consumer or operational aspects of logistics concerned with the supply and support
functions of forces, falling mainly under the responsibility of the Senior NATO Logisticians’
Conference and the NATO Pipeline Committee. Other bodies, such as the Committee of
the Chiefs of Military Medical Services in NATO, advise the Military Committee on logistical
matters in their specific areas of responsibility.
1
Evolution of NATO logistics doctrine
During the Cold War, NATO logistics was limited to the North Atlantic area. The Alliance planned
the linear defence of West Germany with national corps supported by national support elements.
Lines of communication within Europe extended westwards and northwards to Channel and
North Sea ports. Planning called for reinforcements and supplies to be sealifted from the
United States and Canada to these same ports and to be airlifted to European bases to pick up
pre-positioned equipment.
The NATO Pipeline System evolved to supply fuel to NATO forces in Europe.
The NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA) was created in Luxembourg, initially to aid
European countries in their Foreign Military Sales purchase of US combat aircraft in the 1950s.
NATO Pipeline System CEPS encompasses NATO assets for In order to support the new mis-
the movement, storage and delivery sions of the Alliance, the emphasis
The NATO Pipeline System (NPS) of fuel in Belgium, France, Germany, has shifted away from static pipeline
was set up during the Cold War to Luxembourg and the Netherlands. infrastructure to the rapidly deploy-
supply Alliance forces with fuel. These are known as the host nations, able support of NATO’s expeditionary
Although collectively referred to with Canada and the United States activities. To this end, NATO has de-
as one system, the NPS actually designated as user nations. CEPS veloped a modular concept whereby
consists of ten separate and distinct is managed by the Central Europe all fuel requirements can be satisfied
military storage and distribution Pipeline Management Organisation through a combination of 13 discrete
systems: Iceland, Italy, Greece, (CEPMO). Collectively, the host and but compatible modules which can
Turkey (two separate systems - east user nations comprise the member receive, store and transport fuel in
and west), Norway, Portugal, the countries participating in CEPMO. any theatre of operation. The concept
United Kingdom, the North European The system is designed and managed also enables both NATO and Partner
Pipeline System (NEPS) located in to meet operational requirements in nations to combine their capabilities
both Denmark and Germany, and the central Europe in peace, crisis and to provide a multinational solution to
largest system, the Central Europe conflict, but is also used commercially meet all fuel requirements.
Pipeline System (CEPS) in Belgium, under strict safeguards, supplying jet
France, Germany, Luxembourg and fuel to several major civil airports. The
the Netherlands. day-to-day operation of CEPS is the
task of the Central Europe Pipeline
The NPS in total consists of some Management Agency located
11 500 kilometers of pipeline running in Versailles, France.
through 13 NATO nations with its as-
sociated depots, connected air bases, In addition to the above elements of
truck and rail loading stations, pump the NPS, there are also fuel systems
stations, refineries and entry points. in the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Bulk distribution is achieved using Poland and Spain. While those in the
facilities provided from the common- Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland
funded NATO Security Investment are national systems, NATO military
Programme (NSIP). The networks are requirements have been incorporated
controlled by national organisations, into NSIP-funded projects which are
with the exception of CEPS, which is being implemented. The Spanish sys-
a multinational system. tem is purely national.
In the 1990s, NATO recognized the changed security environment it was operating in as a
result of enlargement, Partnership for Peace (PfP) and other cooperation programmes with
Central and Eastern Europe, cooperation with other international organisations, and peace sup-
port operations in the Balkans. All these developments present significant and new challenges
as well as opportunities to NATO’s logistics staffs.
2
NATO Maintenance and missile, the Multiple Launch Rocket NAMSA has developed modern
Supply Agency System (MLRS), and the CL-289 materiel management and procure-
un-manned aerial vehicle. In future, ment techniques, including the Stock
NAMSA plays a key role in logistics. NAMSA will provide in service support Holding and Assets Requirements
The agency is the executive arm for the deployable Medium Extended Exchange (SHARE) and Common
of the NATO Maintenance and Air Defense System (MEADS). NAM- Item Materiel Management (COM-
Supply Organisation, which provides SA is responsible for the depot level MIT). The Agency also provides sup-
the structure for logistics support maintenance of the NATO Airborne port for the Group of National Direc-
of selected weapons systems in Warning and Control System, the tors on Codification, which manages
the national inventories of two or Alliance’s largest commonly funded the NATO Codification System and
more NATO nations, through the programme, which is run by the NATO logistics support for deployed NATO
common procurement and supply Airborne Early Warning and Control forces. Under the NATO Codification
of spare parts and the provision of Programme Management Agency System, items of supply are given a
maintenance and repair facilities. in Brunssum, the Netherlands. single NATO stock number.
NAMSA’s task is to provide logistic NAMSA is in charge of the storage
services in support of weapon and depot for the common equipment
equipment systems held in common of a deployable Combined Joint Task
by NATO nations, in order to pro- Force in Taranto, southern Italy, the
mote materiel readiness, to improve main depot for all NATO’s deployable
the efficiency of logistic operations assets. The agency also procured
and to effect savings through con- equipment for the Deployable Joint
solidated procurement in the areas Task Force of the NATO Reaction
of supply, maintenance, calibration, Force.
procurement, transportation, techni- The agency shares responsibility
cal support, engineering services and with the NATO Communications and
configuration management. Information Systems (CIS) Services
Agency for stored common deploy-
Since its creation, the agency has able CIS equipment. NAMSA ensures
provided acquisition support for the the commonality of non-CIS elements
Nike, Hawk and Patriot surface-to-air like trucks used to carry shelters to
missile systems, the TOW anti-tank house CIS equipment.
3
4
Balkan experience
NATO’s deployment of the Implementation Force (IFOR) to Bosnia and Herzegovina in Decem-
ber 1995 revealed shortcomings in Alliance logistic support for peace support operations. The
logistic footprint was very large, featuring redundant and inefficient national logistic structures.
Experiences from IFOR resulted in major revisions to PfP and NATO logistic policies and pro-
cedures and highlighted the need for greater multinationality in logistics.
IFOR’s 60,000 troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina were deployed and supplied nationally by
road, rail, ships and aircraft over relatively short lines of communication. While the force was
able to rely on some host nation support - civil and military assistance from neighbouring
nations and even Bosnia and Herzegovina itself - it relied heavily on national support elements
with redundant logistic support capabilities, reducing the overall efficiency and effectiveness of
the overall force.
The Stabilisation Force (SFOR) which replaced IFOR and the Kosovo Force (KFOR) which
deployed to the Serb province in June 1999 suffered from the same stovepiped national logistic
support as IFOR. For example, KFOR had five field hospitals, which most NATO countries
include in their logistic structures, one for each brigade, when fewer would have been sufficient
for the force.
Logistics for Afghanistan
After the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, NATO could no longer afford to
do logistics in the same way it did in the Balkans. It is now planning to be able to conduct rapid
deployments far out of area, stretching lines of communication. In addition, it is not necessarily
expecting host nation support, civil and military assistance from nations in the area it deploys.
NATO already faces some of these limitations with the International Security Assistance Force
(ISAF) in Afghanistan, which is land-locked and far from Europe. The long lines of communica-
tion inside the country are hampered by rough terrain, unpaved roads and security threats.
The force therefore relies heavily on airlift for movement, reinforcements and supplies. Most
of its airlift requirements are provided by the United States or by Russian aircraft leased by
Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) through the NATO Maintenance and
Supply Agency (NAMSA) in Luxembourg.
Tactical fixed and rotary-wing aircraft are crucial for the expansion of the ISAF mission beyond
Kabul because it can take days to travel from the capital to the provinces by road, which can
even be impossible in the winter if there is snow. This expansion began in January 2005
with the establishment of provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) north of the Afghan capital,
followed by more of the mixed civilian-military teams to the west and now to the south of Kabul.
Forward support bases in Mazar-e-Sharif in the north and Herat in the west act as “hubs” from
which “spokes” emanate to the PRTs themselves. The expansion to the north of the country
required the commitment by NATO nations of six medium lift transports equivalent to the C-130
aircraft, in addition to 18 helicopters.
5
Strengthening logistic capabilities
Rapid deployments out of area require deployable logistic support units within combat forma-
tions, assured access to strategic lift and deployable logistic assets. These are being covered
by the Prague Capabilities Commitment made by NATO leaders at their November 2002 sum-
mit in the Czech capital. One of the four major shortfalls this initiative aims to overcome is in
deployability and sustainability. Specifically, it seeks to improve NATO’s strategic air and sealift,
air-to-air refueling, and combat service support capabilities.
Most progress has been made in the area of strategic lift. Two consortia have been set up, one
covering airlift and the other sealift.
Airlift
The German-led airlift consortium includes Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France,
Hungary, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain
and Turkey. At the June 2004 Istanbul Summit, defence ministers of these 15 countries signed
a memorandum of understanding aiming to achieve an operational airlift capacity for outsize
cargo by 2005 using up to six chartered An-124-100 transport aircraft available on-call. In ad-
dition, the defence ministers of Bulgaria and Romania signed a letter of intent to acquire this
capability. On 10 November 2005, the contract with Ruslan Salis, the commercial provider of
the aircraft, was signed.
Sealift
Norway leads the Multinational Sealift Steering Committee, which includes Canada, Denmark,
Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. The sealift agreement
signed by their defence ministers in Brussels in December 2003 is based on four components:
• three ships available through assured access contracts;
• one ship available on an ad hoc basis from Norway;
• one or two ships on full-time charter from Denmark; and
• the residual capacity of four British ships.
At the Istanbul Summit, the defence ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Romania and
Slovenia signed a supplementary letter of intent on strategic sealift.
6
© US DoD
NATO support for Rwandan, and one was Senegalese. the EU, coordinated incoming troops
African Union in Darfur Six of these battalions were trans- on the ground in Africa.
ported by NATO.
The Alliance provided airlift and NATO also helped train AU personnel
logistic support to the African Union The NATO airlift was coordinated in key headquarters functions, includ-
(AU) deployment to Darfur as it by Supreme Headquarters Allied ing command and control, logistics
expanded its presence in an attempt Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, and planning.
to end the violence there. NATO, Belgium, while the EU airlift was
along with the European Union coordinated by the European Airlift NATO extended its support of the
(EU), airlifted seven battalions of AU Centre at Eindhoven airbase in the AU until May 2006 so that it can also
troops, plus 49 civilian policemen, Netherlands. A special air movement airlift the rotation of peacekeepers
starting in July 2005. Three of the cell at the AU headquarters in Addis out of Darfur as well as provide ad-
battalions were Nigerian, three were Ababa, supported by NATO and ditional training.
Cooperation with Russia negotiated a final draft of the NATO- Under the 2005 Logistic Action Plan,
Russia Framework Agreement on seminars and workshops looked at
One of the areas of cooperation Air Transport, whose purpose is to such issues as logistic information
within the NATO-Russia Council support humanitarian and rescue and e-commerce, common infor-
(NRC) created in May 2002 is logis- missions, exercises and operations mation technology solutions, military
tics. The NRC Ad Hoc Working Group authorized by the United Nations. medical support, fuels interopera-
(AHWG) on Logistics is the forum for In Exercise Steadfast Move 2005, bility, operational logistics, maritime
discussion and development of such held in Izmir, Turkey, in March 2005, logistics, and support for Operation
cooperation. It was created in De- SHAPE and Russia examined pro- Active Endeavour, which Russia
cember 2004 to replace NRC expert cedures for the use of Russian air will join in 2006. Activities for 2006
groups on logistics, air transport and transport assets. The re-sults fed will focus on the logistic aspects of
air-to-air refueling. directly into the development of the defence against terrorism, multi-
A memorandum of understanding on Air Transport Implementing Arrange- national logistic support solutions for
logistics cooperation between Russia ments by SHAPE and the Russian peacekeeping operations, and logistic
and the NATO Maintenance and Sup- Ministry of Defence. transformation. Furthermore, detailed
ply Organisation is being finalised, as planning will take place in 2006
is a NATO-Russia Framework Agree- The AHWG’s 2005 and 2006 Logistic leading to a fuels interoperability
ment on Air Transport. Action Plans include the development demonstration in 2007 and an
of a host nation support agreement to exercise in 2008.
During 2004, Supreme Headquarters facilitate support to ISAF offered by
Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and Russian President Vladimir Putin and
the Russian Ministry of Defence currently being negotiated by NATO
and Russia.
7
© SHAPE
Logistic support for engineers from Spain, Poland and Italy ters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE)
disaster relief with equipment to help clear roads in Mons, Belgium, through the NRF
and set up facilities; a mobile, multi-headquarters, currently NATO’s joint
In 2005, NATO provided logistic national medical unit; and three water headquarters in Lisbon.
support for disaster relief operations purification plants from Lithuania. Less well-known was NATO’s involve-
in Asia and North America. It airlifted ment in the tsunami relief operation in
aid to Pakistan after the September NATO aircraft delivered aid to the the Far East at the beginning of 2005.
earthquake, to the United States after United States in September following This was mainly in the transport and
Hurricane Katrina, and to Asia after the North Atlantic Council’s decision logistics area and included the char-
the tsunami at the beginning of to help in the disaster relief effort tering by the NATO Maintenance and
the year. following Hurricane Katrina, which Supply Agency of humanitarian relief
NATO airlifted over 1,000 tons of struck the US Gulf Coast on 29 Au- flights from Russia and Azerbaijan for
relief supplies to Pakistan from the gust. The Council decided to commit Austrian non-governmental organiza-
UN High Commissioner for Refugees the NRF and the NAEW&C Force to tions. In January and February 2005,
(UNHCR), Alliance member nations the relief effort. NATO established seven flights were organized using
and other countries. The airlift was an air bridge between Ramstein and Russian Antonov and Azerbaijani
conducted by NATO Airborne Early Little Rock, Arkansas, to deliver some Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft, which
Warning & Control (NAEW&C) Force 189 tons of aid from Alliance member airlifted food, medical supplies, water
Training Cargo Aircraft, US Air Force nations, which was coordinated be- purification equipment, and vehicles
C-17s, a Russian Antonov, and tween NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster from Vienna to Colombo, Sri Lanka.
C-130s flying from air bases in Ram- Response Coordination Cell and the The Alliance donated 565 meters of
stein, Germany, and Incirlik, Turkey. US Federal Emergency Management bridging equipment to Indonesia.
NATO member nations provided Agency. The equipment was former British
helicopters in Pakistan itself. and Dutch materiel stockpiled in
Fifteen British, Greek and Italian Ploce, Croatia, to support NATO’s
In addition, NATO deployed elements C-130 and French and German C-160 Stabilization Force (SFOR), whose
of the NATO Response Force (NRF) transport aircraft assigned to the NRF mission was taken over by the Euro-
to Pakistan. A Deployable Joint Task flew the aid to Ramstein, from where pean Union in December 2004. The
Force headquarters from Joint Com- it was ferried to the US by NAEW&C Netherlands acted as the lead nation,
mand Lisbon, which has operational Training and Cargo Aircraft, with British support, transferring
command of the current rotation of a Canadian A310, a Turkish C-130, equipment by ship to Banda Aceh,
the NRF, was sent to Islamabad to and an Antonov An-124 volunteered Sumatra, for use in the reconstruction
help the UN High Commissioner for by Ukraine. effort there. The bridges are valued at
Refugees with planning, command over six million euros.
and control, and logistics. Other NRF The Hurricane Katrina and Pakistani
elements sent to Pakistan include a earthquake relief operations were
Spanish headquarters; a battalion of commanded by Supreme Headquar-
8
Multinational units
One of the factors limiting the sustainability of NATO peace support operations is the use of
national support elements. Alliance logistic doctrine foresees cooperation and multinationality.
The latter includes the creation of multinational integrated logistic units (MILUs) formed by two
or more nations, under the operational control of a force commander at the joint force or com-
ponent level, to provide logistic support to a multinational force. Belgium, Luxembourg, Greece
and Austria formed the first such unit, the BELUGA transport unit, to support the Stabilization
Force (SFOR) which succeeded IFOR in December 1996. Subsequently, a few MILUs have
been formed on an ad hoc basis and for a short duration in SFOR and KFOR.
To achieve economies of scale, NATO is now pooling its logistics resources in the form of
standing MILUs. In April 2005, Bulgaria, Canada, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Partner-
ship for Peace (PfP) member Croatia agreed to form and sustain the first such unit, a Joint
Theatre Movement Staff (JTMS) MILU. The unit will provide movement staff support to the Mul-
tinational Joint Logistic Centre during NATO operations and exercises. It will develop movement
and transportation plans and prioritize movement requirements in theatre, as well as operate
a Joint Theatre Movement Coordination Centre if required as part of a Combined Joint Task
Force headquarters.
This capability was proven during the last Steadfast Move exercise, which is used to train
national movement planners on the Allied Deployment and Movement System (ADAMS), a
decision support system used to plan and coordinate NATO multinational force deployments.
Exercise Steadfast Move is held annually either at the Turkish PfP logistic training centre in
Izmir, Turkey, which was the case in 2005, or at The Hague location of the NATO Consultation,
Command and Control Agency, which developed the ADAMS software. The initial proof of
concept for the JTMS MILU allows the unit to be affiliated potentially with a six-month rotation
of the NATO Response Force or to one of the High Readiness Forces (Land) available for
Alliance missions.
The JTMS MILU was first proposed in 2002, when most of the countries which form the unit
were PfP but not yet NATO members. A second MILU is being set up by Romania to provide
force support engineering.
© Christian Louis (Belgian Defence)
9
© SHAPE
NATO Public Diplomacy Division
1110 Brussels
Belgium
natodoc@hq.nato.int
www.nato.int
BGR1-LOG-ENG-0206
© NATO 2006
