NATO is moving ahead with plans to begin design of a layered theatre missile defence capability by the year-end.
A €650 million ($875 million) tender is now being prepared for a testbed command and control system to be based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, with links to individual area defence systems in NATO member nations.
Dennis Vandensavel, NATO deputy secretary for active layered theatre ballistic missile defence (ALTBMD), says the testbed plan has three objectives – to test and validate the system integration effort, evaluate the system's performance and develop concepts of operations.
Most of the testbed spending is earmarked for integrating a theatre missile defence capability into the NATO air command and control system, which will be the foundation for the ALTBMD suite.
The effort centres on harnessing the weapons built or projected for several NATO countries, such as the Lockheed Martin/Raytheon PAC-3, the tri-national Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) and the Franco-Italian SAMP/T land-based air defence system.
Source: Flight International