NATO is to give priority research funding to the development of countermeasures equipment for use by helicopters and large transport aircraft under a new two-year work programme, writes Justin Wastnage.
The alliance needs to "reduce the vulnerability of large-body aircraft to portable missiles" and to protect helicopters from attack by ground-based systems, it says. Marshall Billingslea, NATO assistant secretary general for defence initiatives, says earlier research priorities such as airborne surveillance and theatre missile defence will bear fruit from 2006.
NATO's member states also agreed earlier this month a programme of work to protect against terrorism. This will be finalised during next month's NATO summit in Istanbul.
Source: Flight International