The NATO Logistics Committee, NATO’s principal high-level body dealing with logistics, met at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 21-22 May 2024. Allies’ discussions focused on how to implement NATO’s defence plans, which will ensure that NATO can continue to deter and defend by moving forces and equipment to the right place and at the right time.
Effective logistics underpins credible deterrence and defence. This has always been true for military planning and operations, and it has been made even more clear in the current security context. Allied forces must continue to be fully enabled with all the logistics necessary to deter aggression against – and, if needed, to defend – every inch of NATO territory.
In this context, NATO’s National Logistics Directors discussed NATO’s action plan on logistics, including the immediate measures required to support the Alliance’s defence plans. The Logistics Committee will support the implementation of the action plan and ensure timely delivery of functional advice to the North Atlantic Council (NATO’s decision-making body) and the NATO Military Authorities.
Allies also discussed key lessons learned from exercise Steadfast Defender 2024. This is NATO’s largest exercise in decades, with over 90,000 troops from all 32 NATO Allies participating. It has tested NATO’s logistics network from the Arctic to the Alliance’s southern flank, including the deployment of large-scale reinforcements from North America to Europe. The National Logistics Directors emphasised the importance of working with civil agencies and industry to deliver critical support to military forces at scale and speed. Allies’ efforts to further improve their defence production capacity, including through the use of collective solutions and innovation, will ensure that NATO maintains its strategic advantage in logistics.