Conference of
National Armaments Directors (CNAD)
Armaments Cooperation Cooperation between
NATO countries in the armaments field is the responsibility
of the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD),
which meets on a regular basis to consider political, economic
and technical aspects of the development and procurement of
equipment for NATO forces. Army, Air Force and Naval Armaments
Groups support the work of the Conference and are responsible
to it in their respective fields.
A Research and Technology Board, which is an
integrated NATO body responsible for defence research and technological
development, provides advice and assistance to the CNAD and
to the Military Committee.
It conducts a programme of collaborative activities across a
broad range of defence research and technology issues.
Assistance on industrial matters is provided
by a NATO Industrial Advisory Group (NIAG), which enables the
CNAD to benefit from industry's advice on how to foster government-to-industry
and industry-to-industry cooperation and assists the Conference
in exploring opportunities for international collaboration.
Other groups under the Conference, formerly known as Cadre Groups
and renamed "CNAD Partnership Groups", are active
in fields such as defence procurement policy and acquisition
practices, codification, quality assurance, test and safety
criteria for ammunition, and materiel standardisation. Within
the above structure, working groups and ad hoc groups are established
to promote cooperation in specific fields. The overall structure
enables member countries to select the equipment and research
projects in which they wish to participate. At the same time,
it facilitates exchange of information on national equipment
programmes and on technical and logistics matters where cooperation
can be of benefit to individual nations and to NATO as a whole.
In 1993, the North Atlantic Council
approved revised policies, structures and procedures for NATO
armaments cooperation. These were designed to strengthen cooperative
activities in the defence equipment field, to streamline
the overall CNAD committee structure in order to make it more
effective and efficient; and to direct the work of the CNAD
towards the following key areas:
- harmonisation of military requirements on an Alliance-wide
basis;
- Promotion of essential battlefield interoperability;
- Pursuit of cooperative opportunities identified by the
CNAD and the promotion of improved transatlantic cooperation;
- The development of critical defence technologies, including
expanded technology sharing.
In 1994, the CNAD agreed on a series of practical
cooperation measures with the Western European Armaments Group
(WEAG), providing a means of expanding the dialogue on transatlantic
armaments issues between European and North American allies.