Land Forces Academy Nicolae Balcescu Sibiu 2013

Analyze and implications of SMART-DEFENCE concept

Made by: Gabriel Pincu Class 34-B

1. Definition
According to NATO, Smart Defence means pooling and sharing capabilities, setting priorities and coordinating efforts better. According to me, there is a simpler definition: Smart Defence means getting the best value for money. Smart defence is a concept that encourages Allies to cooperate in developing, acquiring and maintaining military capabilities to meet current security problems in accordance with the new NATO strategic concept.

2. Analyse
Pooling and sharing and Smart Defense are two concepts roughly referring to the same approach capabilities merger and joint use in order to ensure more effective investments in security and defense. Cooperation among member states is the central idea around which the two concepts are built. What we can do is ask why Smart Defence could be successful. There are three main reasons: NATOs competence, the history and culture of cooperation, and four successful past projects (the Alliance Ground Surveillance Programme AGS; the Strategic Airlift Capability; the Strategic Airlift Interim Solutions SALIS; and the Airborne Warning and Control System AWACS).

3. Implications
By focusing on the implications of Smart Defence concept for Romania, the last Minister of National Defence, Cornelius Dobritoiu pointed out in his speech: key phrase of this concept is to spend less and achieve more through extensive international cooperation multinational . According to his statements, Smart Defense is not refer primarily to save money, but to create added value by reducing costs and developing capabilities. Thus, together we achieve more with fewer resources.

4. Conclusions
Cooperation is not sought by individual states as an aim in itself, but as a tool. Just as they would use anything else to preserve their power, so they will use cooperation if this furthers their selfinterest and protects them from downfall. The Allies designed NATOs founding concept of collective security not because they appreciated it as a value in itself, but because they needed it. This applies to all other strategic concepts that have been developed throughout NATOs 69-year long life, Smart Defence included.