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NATO Summit:
Defense Capabilities Initiative
Fact Sheet
The Defense Capabilities Initiative (DCI) is an effort to ensure that
the Alliance has conventional military forces that are designed and
equipped for 21st century missions. At the Washington Summit, NATO's 19
leaders adopted a "common operational vision" for NATO militaries;
endorsed a report that examined changing Allied conventional military
needs and identified key shortfalls; and launched a program to develop
Allied defense capabilities in five key areas. The areas identified for
focus are:
Effective engagement: the ability to engage effectively and with
appropriate assets in a number of different areas, including
humanitarian assistance, force protection, and high-intensity combat;
Deployability and mobility: the ability to move forces efficiently
and effectively;
Sustainability and logistics: the ability to sustain engagements by
delivering supplies and support equipment in a timely, organized manner,
supporting prolonged operations through rotation of forces;
Survivability: the ability to survive and operate in a wide range
of environments, including chemical, biological, terrorist, or
electronic attacks;
Command, Control and Communications: the ability to establish and
maintain effective command and control arrangements and communications
links, interoperable with national systems and including a deployable
capability for crisis response operations.
To ensure effective implementation of the DCI, NATO's leaders
established a High-Level Steering Group (HLSG) to coordinate,
prioritize, and integrate the efforts of the appropriate NATO
committees.