Page 74 - North Atlantic and Nordic Defense

North European and North Atlantic Defense: The Challenges Return

For NATO nations clearly it is the effective contribution to that nations own defense and to doing so in such a
way that interoperability with other nations is enhanced both for the self defense of the nation and
enhancements in overall coalition capabilities for defending against 21st century threats.

Thus, Article III investments become especially important going forward for the alliance.

Article III of the NATO treaty reads: “In order more effectively to achieve the objectives of this Treaty, the
Parties, separately and jointly, by means of continuous and effective self-help and mutual aid, will maintain
and develop their individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.”

In an interview last month with the Norwegian Deputy Minister of Defense in his Oslo office, Mr. Øystein BØ,
emphasized the article’s importance:

“Article III is the obligation to have a strong national defense and to be able to be a net contributor to
security.

There is no free ride in NATO, we’ve all got to do our part to be able to defend each other.”

It is also about relevant and effective burden sharing, namely finding ways to enhance the capability of
NATO nations to operate in the extended battlespace and to share data in enhanced distributed operations
with evolving C2 innovations.

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The point is that there can plainly be bad investments or investments not relevant to 21 century defense, and
these criteria apply to all of the NATO nations, including the United States.

There can be clearly new ways to shape burden sharing which can provide for more effective ways to
augment relevant defense capabilities.

One example has been the European Transport Command, which is finding ways to share capabilities across
the lift and tanking fleet to provide for enhanced support to member states.

http://www.sldinfo.com/the-european-air-transport-command-supports-red-flag-2017/

Another example might be the North Atlantic NATO members finding a way to add Triton capabilities to their
force.

Two of these states are buying the P-8, namely the UK and Norway, but perhaps Canada, Norway and the
UK could buy a small fleet of Triton platforms to complement their Maritime Patrol Aircraft, and to share the
data and to find ways as well to shape innovative C2 methods.

Another example is provided by a recent exercise conducted in Arctic waters.

According to an article published by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence on February 26, 2017, this example
is detailed.

During Exercise Northern Sun 17 the NATO Submarine Rescue System has been tested in Arctic waters
for the first time.

Second Line of Defense

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