On 7 December 2022, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg formalised its support to the development of the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) initiative through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA). The signature of an Implementing Instrument today follows the signing of a Letter of Intent in May 2022, by which Luxembourg Defence committed to provide up to 5 MEUR between 2023 and 2025 to support all activities conducted by the NSPA AFSC Programme ahead of and during Phase 3 of the AFSC Concept Stage.
The Airborne Early Warning and Control System (AWACS) has been NATO’s key surveillance and control asset since the 1980s, and is planned to retire around 2035 after 50 years of service. To plan for the required follow-on capability, at the 2016 Summit in Warsaw, NATO launched Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) specifically to develop options for future NATO surveillance and control capabilities. Several Allies are actively contributing to the AFSC initiative through research, subject matter expertise and resourcing.
“In the next phase, our team will prepare future acquisition programmes based on the selected AFSC technical concept and a review of planned and available capabilities. We are grateful for Luxembourg’s additional contribution to support the continuity of these important activities,” Cagatay Soyer, NSPA AFSC Programme Manager said.
In February 2017, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) initiated the AFSC Concept Stage with NSPA as the lead NATO agency to conduct studies and develop technical concepts. Through this work, NSPA is evaluating new technologies and exploring a system of systems approach including potential combinations of air, ground, maritime, and space systems working together to collect and share information. These studies will eventually help to inform decisions by NATO, individual Allies or multinational groups to acquire new systems in the future. All 30 NATO Allies currently cooperate in the planning and resourcing of this programme.
