Vlastimil Picek, Prague

There are multiple reasons for interoperability being high on the agenda Interoperable capabilities: a must for the armed forces of smaller nations

by General (ret.) Vlastimil Picek, Minister of Defence, Prague

Interoperable capabilities are an obvious prerequisite for functioning military coalitions. This is particularly relevant for smaller nations that do not dispose of a full spectrum of forces but need to participate in multinational military endeavours. Over the past two decades, European nations and their transatlantic allies have proved capable of operating together and their militaries have achieved a high level of interoperability. Yet the evolving strategic environment requires that we pay constant attention to further increasing interoperability.

Challenges to military capabilities There are multiple reasons for interoperability being high on the agenda. First, most European countries have faced dramatic defence budget cuts, the full impact of which still remains uncertain. Moreover, the existing structure of defence budgets is not helpful either, as the rising personnel costs in many European countries leave ever smaller financial room for capability development. Second, with the ISAF operation ending in 2014, we need to find a way to replace this crucial interoperability generator. Operations have been the driving force for transforming the armed forces of participating nations and for enhancing their interoperability. Although ISAF’s demise is approaching, we still have not agreed with our American allies on a training programme that is efficient and intensive enough to sustain the interoperability level achieved in Afghanistan. Third, the United States is reducing its permanent military

Military oath in front of the Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech Republic’s presidency photo: www.army.cz/en/ministry-of-defence

Vlastimil Picek has been Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic since March 2013. He was born in 1956 and studied at the Military Academy in Brno and later pursued postgraduate studies at the Czech Technical University in Prague. Before being appointed as Minister of Defence, he served as the First Deputy Minister of Defence (2012–2013). Previous positions include Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic (2007–2012) and Chief of the Military Office of the President of the Czech Republic (2003–2007).

presence in Europe, particularly when it comes to land forces. It remains to be seen how the changing role of the US in European security will impact the ability of American and European forces to operate together.

Why do we need interoperable capabilities? From the perspective of the Czech Republic, military interoperability is of particular significance in the context of collective defence and deterrence. Developing interoperability can be seen as a proof of collective defence being taken seriously. At the same time, it is the smaller nations’ way of contributing to it, given their limited resources. Moreover, interoperability is crucial for the smaller nations’ ability to participate in multilateral crisis-management operations, which is their key practical instrument for contributing to Euro-Atlantic security and demonstrating their strategic maturity and reliability. Last but not least, developing and exercising interoperability can also be seen as a goal per se, helping to build closer contacts among EU and NATO nations, strengthen internal cohesion of each of the two organisations and enhance cooperative security and stability in the broader Euro-Atlantic area through practical cooperation with partners. There are several means of building interoperable capabilities. At our national level, we will keep reforming our defence vigorously with the aim of spending the money we have as efficiently as possible. We will also strive to achieve a better balance between personnel costs and capability development. Like many other nations, the Czech Republic plans to use its financial resources so far devoted to operations for this purpose.

Logically, the central element of interoperability development is bilateral and sub-regional cooperation. There are a number of initiatives driven by sub-regional groupings of smaller nations such as the Visegrad Group.

How to maintain and develop interoperable capabilities Joint activities that contribute to increasing interoperability range from common capability development projects, cooperation in the field of training and exercises and the affiliation of national armed forces to multinational corps, all the way to contributing to the multinational high-readiness response forces of the EU and NATO. Specialisation represents another impetus for interoperability development. Few countries in Europe still maintain a full range of forces, which means that the capabilities developed today need, by definition, to be interoperable so that they can be used jointly. To this end, multinational initiatives such as Pooling & Sharing and Smart Defence are useful tools. But we should equally strive to make the best use of the regular coordination and planning mechanisms at the EU and NATO levels in order to ensure that the capabilities we build are interoperable. In this regard, I see the Allied Command Transformation (ACT) as a particularly valuable asset that should be used by European countries to coordinate the development of interoperable capabilities. Last but not least, in the context of the US military presence in Europe being reduced and the ISAF operation about to be terminated, I consider it crucial to set up a robust training programme that will replace these two key practical sources of interoperability. The NATO Training Concept 2015-2020 currently being developed is a promising step if complemented by a genuine effort to coordinate national training plans across Europe and North America to the maximum possible extent. Increasing interoperability is a difficult but vital task. Despite the challenge of finding new frameworks to replace large operations and the declining US presence in Europe as transformational drivers, there are means to achieve this goal so that we, EU and NATO members, remain well equipped for operating together in the current strategic environment.