February 2012
8 posts
5 tags
New NATO contract will be cyber defense template...
From Carola Hoyos, the Financial Times: Nato is set to award the biggest cyber defence contract ever agreed outside the US on Wednesday, a move expected to prompt the alliance’s 28-member countries to follow suit and roll out their own cyber security systems.
The contract will see Finmeccanica, Italy’s defence contractor and Northrop Grumman, of the US, design and implement a project that...
5 tags
Congressmen question US troop presence in Europe...
From Philip Ewing, DODBuzz: Colorado Republican Rep. Mike Coffman asked (EUCOM commander, Adm. James] Stavridis how many American troops would remain on the Continent after commanders withdraw about 12,000, as now envisioned. That would leave about 68,000, he was told. We should look at taking them all out, Coffman said — is there a NATO treaty requirement that Americans be based in Europe? No...
8 tags
EUCOM commander says withdrawing 11,500 troops...
From John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes: While reducing the U.S. troop presence in Europe will mean assuming some additional risks, new measures such as a decision to deploy V-22s to Europe will help the military maintain its ability to respond quickly to a crisis in the region, the head of U.S. European Command told a congressional committee Wednesday.
“It’s a manageable amount of risk,” EUCOM...
7 tags
NATO to consolidate air command operations at...
From John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes: As part of a plan to consolidate its air command headquarters, NATO officials have decided to make Ramstein Air Base the hub for alliance missions that range from NATO’s air police operations to a growing missile defense program, according Headquarters Allied Air Command Ramstein.
Currently, NATO has two air command headquarters: Ramstein Air Base in the...
9 tags
U.S., NATO seek to clarify Panetta comments on...
From Craig Whitlock, the Washington Post: U.S. and NATO officials struggled Thursday to clarify how long their troops would remain engaged in combat in Afghanistan, a day after Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said U.S. forces would shift toward a training and advisory role next year.
Defense ministers from NATO’s 28 member countries met in Brussels to discuss how to wind down the war in...
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2013 ambiguity turns meeting of NATO defense...
From Elisabeth Bumiller, the New York Times: The top NATO official said Thursday that NATO forces in Afghanistan would move gradually from a combat to support role by 2014, but that combat would continue during that period and that NATO remained committed to the principle of “in together, out together.”
The statement by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, capped a day of...
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NATO missile shield to be based in Germany:...
From Deutsche Welle: NATO plans to set up the command center for its missile shield at the US military base Ramstein, a diplomatic source said Thursday.
Speaking in Brussels on condition of anonymity, the diplomat said the command center was planned for the Ramstein Air Base, located in the western German state of Rhineland-Palatinate… .
The missile shield is expected to be fully...
11 tags
'Panetta may have triggered an unseemly rush for...
From Clausewitz, the Economist: The secret NATO report on the Taliban leaked to the BBC is full of fascinating stuff, but it mostly confirms what was already known rather than shedding new light on the conflict in Afghanistan. The report, called “The State of the Taliban” and based on interrogations with more than 4,000 Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees is, however, rich in anecdotal evidence...
