At the right place, at the right time, we had an impactful Regional Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Conference hosted by our esteemed partners, the Polish Ministry of National Defence, at their Military Academy of Technology (MAT) campus on May 8-9 in Warsaw, Poland. Our conference was co-chaired by MDAA Chairman and Founder Riki Ellison and Brigadier General Michal Marciniak of Polish MOD IAMD development and saw participation from numerous nations and industry leaders, including representatives from key NATO allies and leading defense companies. The discussions focused on the issues of Regional IAMD from the perspective of NATO’s eastern flank, along with current updates on technology and strategies from the conference participants.
Three main points emerged regarding the current security situation: First, there is consensus that while active conflict is contained within the battlefields of Russia and Ukraine, Europe and her allies are not experiencing a state of peace. Second, security is fundamentally a choice. Finally, this shared understanding is driving the requirements for courses of action across NATO members in IAMD.
Consensus was achieved on the key characteristics of an IAMD system for NATO. These include:
– An open, modular architecture, emphasized by General (Retired) Phil Breedlove, former Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), who stated, “Proprietary kit = Mission failure.” and “Innovation must be Driven by the Speed of the Threat”
– The requirement to resolve the data sharing challenge, as it cannot be effectively addressed in creating policy for sharing classified data which nations hold as national security remains very challenging and countries continue to develop data sharing solutions bilaterally.
– The challenge of sharing data across classified communication systems may necessitate starting at the lowest common denominator with using commercial and unclassified sensors data repositories for data accessibility and transmission. HQ NATO’s ASG for Operations, Tom Goffus, stressed utilizing existing platforms with a potential solutions. These would include Super Maven as the NATO interface for collection of data, the establishment of a NATO sovereign Unified Data Library (UDL), and establishment of a NATO node into the Joint Fires Network (JFN),
Acknowledging the complexity of addressing these key characteristics, a course of action was developed to implement a pilot program with select countries keen to field, test, iterate, and develop a viable minimal capability collecting unclassified, non-classified and dirty data. This capability cleaned can then be scaled across NATO. The necessary capabilities for this effort are available today and can be deployed within a matter of months, if not weeks.
As the United States advances the delivery of the Golden Dome, the opportunity is ripe for Europe to enhance its security and bolster deterrence through an integrated air and missile defense architecture that could share data, adding to the data and collecting data from a future Golden Dome. This architecture, characterized by its density, cheap cost, openness, modularity, and effectiveness, must be capable of routine updates to incorporate the latest technological advancements, ensuring resilience well into the future.
It is all dependent on great leadership, belief, trust, courage with and among our NATO Allies.
Thank you Poland for your remarkable regional Leadership in significant actions on IAMD, leading the way and opening the path forward for regional IAMD for Eastern Europe.
Winners associate with Winners to Win!
