Nnec

TOACO perspective on NNEC

Headline from an international newspaper dated 18 September 2009: “Conflicts and Taliban-led insurgency have claimed over 357 international troops so far this year inwar-torn Afghanistan.” Although we are only 260 days into 2009, we have lost nearly 3 people for every 2 days. This is the reality for NATO troops in Afghanistan. We face a difficult challenge and we areworking very hard to eradicate our losses. But perhaps we can work smarter. Warfare has changed. The days of two forces fighting toe to toe are gone. Today’s battles are scattered, sudden and rarelyinvolve a protracted engagement. Asymmetric warfare is built on surprise, stealth, patience and ruthlessness. To counter such a threat is extremely difficult and involves a lot of thinking. Effectivethinking relies on accurate information which is presented in a way that provides a coherent picture. All of this information must be available in order to be used. This is the premise on which NATONetwork Enabled Capability (NNEC) is being developed. NNEC is intended to enable information exchange may be used to paint an up to date picture of the conflict at any level, from tactical tostrategic, so that our war-fighters can fully grasp the current operational picture. Although the idea is not new, the realization of the idea will revolutionize the way we fight our conflicts. With nearinstantaneous reporting of events, we have to make the best decision every time or we endanger our strategic objectives. One tactical error can result in years of strategic setbacks. This is the nature ofmodern warfare. Information is a weapon. Our challenge is difficult to say the least. Take any one NATO country and evaluate how well they share information between their own national services. Atbest, the answer is probably that there is room for improvement. Now multiply that by 28 nations in the alliance and add all the other nations within the coalition and the problem takes on a different...