The looting of these weapons hoards allowed the rebels to quickly acquire the firepower they needed to overthrow the regime, but it has resulted in a highly armed population. It is a problem that will need to be addressed quickly if it is not to create security issues further down the line.

Giving up the guns

The situation is serious and there have been calls for the National Transitional Council to act quickly. Recent advertising on Libyan television and radio has encouraged people to hand over their weapons to the authorities.

“It’s started to be like a daily routine where people come and give up their weapons,” says Abed, a member of the National Transitional Council in Abu Sleem. “Before, we had to go to their homes and collect the weapons, now it’s the other way round.”

It is easy to understand why Libyans are not keen to part with the weapons that have taken them through the revolution and thrown off the shackles of a hated despotic regime. Fear and uncertainty in their future has led many to feel that the time has not yet come when they can return to their old lives and put down the tools of war.

“I won’t hand it over until the country is clear and Qadhafi is captured,” says Osama, who used to be a mechanic before the conflict. “When nothing is wrong with the country, I’ll hand over my weapon.”

Others, who have a deeper trust in their new leaders, are ready to follow orders. “Even now if they want me to hand over my weapon I will happily do it, and I will go straight home. I have no problem with this. The most important thing is to have peace and stability in Libya,” says Mahmoud with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder.

The revolutionary without his rifle

One shouldn’t underestimate the power of the image of a man with a Kalashnikov in Libya now. A sense of bravado has built up around it. Before the revolution they may not have come across a weapon unless they were drafted into the army and a lot of young men had only seen guns in the movies.

“You have to be responsible of what you are doing first,” says Ahmed, “I mean holding a gun is not easy. It’s not like ‘oh look at me I’m holding a gun, I’m showing off.’ That’s not it. You’re doing something for your country, you’re supposed to save people, make people safe.”

However, unlike Ahmed, safety is not at the forefront of everybody’s mind. The recent news of the capture of one of Qadhafi’s sons brought people out onto the streets, firing wildly into the air in celebration. Smashed car windshields attest to the inevitable return of the bullets towards earth and there have been reports of injuries and even deaths.

The wrong hands

Whilst Kalashnikov rifles and other small arms such as rocket-propelled grenades have flooded Libya in their hundreds of thousands, there are weapons which although less numerous could cause an even greater threat.

It’s feared that man-portable missiles, rocket systems and even chemical weapons could fall into the hands of extremists unless prompt action is taken to secure them. Individual nations have taken steps to resolve the issue on a bilateral basis. For instance, a recent Canadian initiative saw the government pledge 10m dollars to help Libya collect and neutralise the threat from these weapons systems, while both the UK and the US also acted to deploy military and civilian personnel on the ground to help secure stockpiles.

With the country awash with weaponry, the National Transitional Council will face a tough challenge in disarming their population and creating a safe future for Libya and the region.

We have agreed to streamline the agencies which run individual NATO projects, such as ground surveillance and strategic airlift.

As a result, our agencies will become simpler in structure, while staying effective in their work.

And we have agreed to re-shape NATO’s command structure, making it more efficient, more deployable, and more compact.

Some headquarters will close. Others will move or change their role.

Together, these reforms will make NATO more affordable – offering even better value for our Allies’ money.

They will make NATO more effective – focusing on the capabilities and command systems we need.

Above all, they will deliver an Alliance which is fit for the future – defending us against the threats of today, and of tomorrow.

Building on the success of previous SPS workshops in this series, namely: “Wounds of war: Lowering Suicide Risk in Returning Troops” and “Wounds of war: Coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Returning Troops” the workshop will be vital in disseminating information relating to acute and chronic pain in returning troops and recruits.

Keynote speakers will give presentations on topics including:

• pain management in forward trauma surgery in Afghanistan;
• morphine use after combat injury in Iraq and PTSD;
• the use of pain manikins in Persian Gulf War health research; and
• lower-back pain and its risk indicators in Finnish male conscripts

The triple-edged sword of pain, post traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury (TBI) can lead to societal problems - long after the soldier has left the theatre of war. Participants will learn that conditions encountered during Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) highlighted the need for a streamlined comprehensive approach to battlefield casualty management.

For example, a Department of Veterans Affairs report (2007) suggests that the use of morphine during trauma care could subsequently reduce the risk of PTSD; an important discovery as 58% of returning OIF/OEF injured soldiers showed signs of mental illness. Security analysts are particularly concerned as preliminary data indicate a reduced return-to-duty rate for injured soldiers with a concurrent psychiatric diagnosis, such as PTSD.

This event, co-sponsored by NATO, the US Army Medical Research and Material Command, the Austrian Ministry of Defence and the Croatian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, will take us a step closer to mitigating this security challenge, and promises to mobilise government and academic researchers into a collaborative network that enables them to form partnerships.

This workshop is funded through NATO’s Science for Peace and Security Programme.

The exercise Bold Monarch is the world’s largest event of this kind, bringing together every three years submarines, ships and aircraft from both NATO and non-NATO countries. The 2011 edition includes the participation of Russia, marking it as the first time a Russian submarine participates in any NATO exercise.

Bold Monarch 2011 is designed to maximize international cooperation in submarine rescue operations – a critical capability for NATO and for all the submarine-operating nations.

During the 12-day exercise, submarines from Portugal, Russia, Spain and Turkey were ‘bottomed’ in a sea area just off the southern coast of Spain. Rescue forces equipped with a range of sophisticated debris clearance, diver-assisted gear and submarine rescue vehicles from Italy, USA, Russia and Sweden, together with a jointly-owned rescue system from France, Norway and United Kingdom engaged in a series of rescue operations for the “sunken” submarines. The exercise will conclude in the next days with a 48-hour coordinated rescue and evacuation operation for some 150 survivors, including many simulated casualties, from a ‘disabled’ submarine.

During the visit to the ships, submarine and rescue systems, the Chairman of the Military Committee was briefed on how this exercises can greatly contribute to enhance partner interoperability, providing specific military training, coordinating military assistance, and cooperating with the chain of command of key nations. Compatibility between rescue assets, standardization of procedures, coordination and cooperation between all national elements, both military and civilian, were among the exercise's objectives shown. The exercise is proving invaluable also for testing the command and control of this kind of incidents under internationally-agreed NATO procedures.

During the demonstration CMC and General Makarov were ‘rescued’ from the Russian submarine through a NATO rescue systems, providing a concrete example on how platforms and procedures can successfully mate.

Thanking the Spanish Navy for hosting the exercise, Admiral Di Paola said that “Exercises like the Bold Monarch 2011, beside the great value of all the objectives in term of improving safety and interoperability at sea, show how much interest and enthusiasm there is, within NATO and beyond, in strengthening networks in the field of cooperation and security.”

General Makarov also stressed the importance of these successful exercises, in light of joint efforts to save human lives.

The mines were initially identified by NATO assets without the specialized equipment required to deal with them. The mines are small and hard to detect but can do serious damage to shipping. Two were moored to the seabed and were later destroyed, but a third mine drifted free before specialized ships could arrive. NATO mine hunters are now working to locate and destroy this mine and to scan the area for any further possible threats.

The Misrata port authority makes the decision whether to close the port and it is up to mariners to decide whether they want to approach. NATO continues to communicate with inbound shipping on a regular basis, consistently exchanging information to keep approaching vessels fully informed.

NATO has also published a Notice to Mariners informing them of the dangerous situation created by the Qadhafi regime’s illegal and irresponsible action.

Over the weekend, at least two vessels left the harbour and one humanitarian vessel entered the port and was able to safely unload its cargo before leaving.

NATO took over the operation to enforce the arms embargo, no-fly zone and actions to protect civilians and civilian centres as mandated in UN Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1973, under the name UNIFIED PROTECTOR, on 31 March 2011.

Rear Admiral Russell Harding, Deputy Commander of Combined Joint Task Force Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR, said that over the past few days Libyan government forces have increasingly shifted to non-conventional tactics, 'blending in with road traffic and using civilian life as a shield for their advance':

"As a consequence, they have moved in the direction of Ajdabiya, posing a direct threat to that city, and beyond that, to Benghazi."

He said that, in response, NATO has pursued direct strikes on advancing forces and their logistical and munitions supply chains.

NATO has also used surgical air strikes to sever the main supply route between Ajdabiya and Misurata, Rear Admiral Harding confirmed.

The Deputy Commander stressed that, in doing so, NATO forces have been particularly careful to avoid injury to civilians who are in close proximity to the fighting, often precisely because of the tactics of government forces:

"Acting under UN mandate, the NATO mission has maintained enforcement of the air and maritime embargo on Libya, has enforced the no-fly zone and has moved with determination to protect the people of Libya from attack," he said.

"On 1 April, the NATO-led international coalition force of naval vessels, submarines and aircraft commenced strikes against mobile military sites and air defence systems along the Libyan coast.

"This action prevents attack on alliance aircraft, allowing for enforcement of the no-fly zone, and prevents the use of heavy weaponry against Libyan civilians whom the [Libyan] Government famously told could expect 'no mercy'.

"Although limited by poor weather for a few days, alliance air assets have effectively engaged Libyan combat forces on the ground to mitigate their capabilities and protect the areas toward which they have advanced.

"This action has been directed by General Bouchard to slow down advancing forces, in order to prevent attacks on Libyan civilians and to support the wider international effort to end the fighting within the framework of UNSCR 1973."

Rear Admiral Harding said that these strikes achieved their main effect, reducing the capacity of government forces to threaten the lives or besiege the cities of the Libyan people:

"Indeed, we believe we have reduced by up to 30 per cent the Libyan military capacity which has been mobilised for aggressive action.

"We have also rendered their air force inoperative and we have seriously degraded their air defences. These last are critical factors in ensuring civilian protection."

Rear Admiral Harding said that, as of 6 April 2011, Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR has more than 100 fighter and support aircraft in action, as well as a dozen naval vessels from several nations operating under NATO command:

"We have achieved a seamless transition from Coalition ODYSSEY DAWN and are resolved to demonstrate the same commitment and effectiveness.

"NATO is operating under a very clear international legal mandate and with broad regional support.

"It will take action against any party that threatens aggression or violence, or acts in contravention of UNSCR 1973.

"We have the resources and the will to achieve that mandate from the international community and I would like to express thanks to all of the contributing nations - and in particular to the United States as it transitions to a supporting role - for the assets and people they have committed to this mission."

Addressing accusations in some sections of the media that NATO had 'picked sides' with the rebels, Rear Admiral Harding said:

"Let me be clear - we will attack any forces that mean to harm innocent civilians.

"I would remind you that it is Colonel Gaddafi who has stated he will show no mercy to his own population, and it is his military that has shelled civilians, bombed cities and continues to threaten innocents.

"Again, we will attack any forces that mean harm to the civilian population."

On the fire reported at a Libyan oil facility, Lieutenant General Charles Bouchard, Commander of Operation UNIFIED PROTECTOR, said:

"NATO has been monitoring this area since the beginning of the month where attacks last week by pro-Gaddafi forces have resulted in a number of skirmishes with anti-Gaddafi forces and at least one fire at an oil facility in the region of Sarir.

"We are aware that Gaddafi forces have attacked this area in recent days, which resulted in at least one fire at an oil facility north of Sarir. To try and blame it on NATO shows how desperate this regime is.

"We have never conducted strike operations in this area because [Gaddafi's] forces were not threatening civilian population centres from there. The only one responsible for this fire is Gaddafi and we know he wants to disrupt oil getting to Tobruk."

The participants identified 47 specific areas where a multinational approach will bring lower costs, greater efficiency and effectiveness.

Areas range from joint acquisition of material such as ‘jammers’ against remotely controlled IEDs and entry control point sensors, to joint development and testing of new technologies, to common standards, and cooperation on training.

“Defeating the threat of IEDs in current and future conflicts is of critical importance to the Alliance. We need to focus on identifying opportunities for multinational cooperation, as a significant step towards meeting the IED challenge in a cost-effective and timely manner,” said NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Armaments, Richard Froh, in his opening address at the workshop.

The packages are scalable and flexible, allowing Nations to focus on a specific area of interest, avoiding the need for ‘one size fits all’ solutions.

'Smart defence' in action
The meeting, held in the framework of the Alliance’s C-IED Action Plan, was organised by NATO’s Defence Investment Division and co-chaired by the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A).

Many potential projects could be implemented in the 2011-2012 timeframe; others look into common research and development efforts for future capabilities.

This event follows a previous workshop, organised by the NC3A in November 2010, which identified a number of areas where Nations could benefit from greater multinational cooperation.

“We cannot ensure our security just by spending more money – because the money simply isn’t there. We need a new approach: Smart Defence – ensuring greater security, for less money, by working together with more flexibility,” said NATO Secretary General Rasmussen in a key policy speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he called for multinational defence cooperation.

The meeting was attended by more than 50 national experts providing first-hand experience from 16 nations, as well as experts from NATO’s C-IED Task Force led by Allied Command Transformation. National Armaments Directors will discuss the workshop findings at their meeting at NATO Headquarters on 7 April, with a view of developing a Roadmap guiding future implementation.

The NATO Combined Air Operations Centre demonstrated how this interim capability allows NATO commanders, for the first time ever, to do limited ballistic missile defence planning and exchange information with national ballistic missile defence assets.

“The handover of this interim capability marks an important step in NATO’s missile defence efforts,” said Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero. “In line with the NATO Lisbon Summit decision, this capability will be further expanded to form the cornerstone of a future missile defence system for the protection of territory and populations.”

“NATO commanders now have for the first time an initial, limited but integrated ability to manage a defence battle to protect deployed forces against ballistic missile attacks,” said Brigadier General Alessandro Pera, Head of the Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) Programme Office. During a short ceremony, he handed over the capability to Major General Mark F. Ramsay, Deputy Chief of Staff Operations & Intelligence, representing the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) as the operational user of the capability.

A rigorous ‘ensemble’ test, held from 6 to 10 December 2010 at the Integration Test Bed hosted at the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency (NC3A) facilities in The Hague, verified the ability of the NATO Command and Control system to connect and direct a multinational coalition of weapon and sensor systems in a missile defence battle.

“This interim capability meets a first batch of military requirements and was delivered in time and within the budget envelope. It is a good example of phased programme implementation under the auspices of the Conference of National Armaments Directors (CNAD), combining NATO and national assets in a common architecture” said Patrick Auroy, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defence Investment and Chairman of the CNAD.

A Field Test followed immediately after the Ensemble Test at the capability’s first deployed location, the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre in Uedem, Germany. These two tests were the last in a series of tests of this interim capability, which also included ‘live fire’ tests off the coast of Crete, Greece in 2009. “The performance of the capability met its military requirements,” added General Alessandro Pera.

Weapon and sensor systems from five Allies – France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the United States - took part in the Ensemble Test, along with the NATO operators who will be using the capability.

This is an example of successful collaboration under the ALTBMD Programme Office, involving Allies, NATO military commanders, NATO Agencies such as NC3A and NACMA (NATO Air Command and Control System Management Agency), and the industry.

Under the ALTBMD Programme, NATO provides a command and control system that links sensors and interceptors from Nations into a capability that can protect deployed forces from ballistic missile attacks.

The ALTBMD Programme Office will continue to upgrade the NATO Command and Control System for Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence in incremental steps from 2013 to 2018, to field a more robust Final Operational Capability. In line with the Lisbon Summit decision of November 2010, the ALTBMD capability will also be expanded to protect not just deployed forces, but NATO European territories and populations as well.

NATO’s leaders decided to develop a Missile Defence capability to protect NATO’s populations and territories in Europe against ballistic missile attacks. The Alliance’s Heads of State and Government stated they see this as a core element of NATO’s collective defence task in view of the growing threat of the proliferation of ballistic missile technology and weapons of mass destruction.

To this end, the Allies decided to expand NATO’s current system to protect NATO-deployed forces – the Active Layered Theatre Ballistic Missile Defence (ALTBMD) – to also protect NATO European populations and territory. The US Phased Adaptive Approach for Missile Defence in Europe, launched in September 2009, will be an indispensable contribution to the NATO Missile Defence architecture.

In the Summit declaration, NATO's Heads of State and Government decided that the scope of NATO's current Active Layered Theatre Missile Defence programme's command, control and communications capabilities will be expanded beyond the protection of NATO deployed forces to also protect NATO European populations, territory and forces.

In this context the declaration states: "The United States European Phased Adapted Approach is welcomed as a valuable national contribution to the NATO missile defence architecture, as are other possible voluntary contributions by Allies."

The NATO leaders task the North Atlantic Council "to develop missile defence consultation, command and control arrangements by the time of the March 2011 meeting of Defence Ministers. They also have tasked the Council to draft an action plan addressing steps to implement the missile defence capability by the time of the June 2011 Defence Ministers Meeting.

NATO leaders also committed to explore opportunities for missile defence co-operation with Russia in a spirit of reciprocity, maximum transparency and mutual confidence.

Some sessions are focusing on practical information, such as NC3A’s future online tool that will help industry do business with NATO. Other sessions are highlighting opportunities in new and developing areas such as cyber defence, missile defence and countering improvised explosive devices.

In his keynote speech, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT), General Stéphane Abrial, explained that it was more important than ever to spend wisely in today’s tough financial times, when defence spending is threatened by budget cuts.

Hard choices, evolving opponents

The complexity of developing and maintaining defence capabilities is also “a result of the accelerating speed of technological change”, General Abrial said. He mentioned robotics and nanotechnology as “potential game-changers”, but current defence budgets limited their exploitation. Hard choices need to be made – by the military as well as industry – and “errors in judgement could be costlier than ever.”

“The paradigm we face in our globalized, interconnected world is that of a hybrid adversary, which can at will use the power of a state or the nimbleness and irresponsibility of a non-state actor; combine low-tech and state-of-the-art capabilities; and strike wherever it finds convenient”.

Paying once – through interoperability

This year is the first time that ACT is holding its Industry Days jointly with NC3A. “Traditionally, we worked on developing capabilities nationally and then worked – and paid – again at the Alliance level to make them interoperable,” said NC3A General Manager Georges D’hollander in his address.

“Now we are seeking, with ACT and industry, capabilities that are ‘born interoperable’ in support of operations and new challenges. As national budgets come under pressure – nations only want to pay once: for capabilities that will work with their NATO partners and protect the safety of their troops,” he said.

Boosting NATO-EU cooperation

Now in its seventh year, one of the key aims of Industry Days 2010 is to improve cooperation between NATO and the EU. It is vital, for example, that the 25 EU countries taking part in the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan have capabilities that are interoperable with those of the Alliance, said General Abrial.

This year’s Industry Days are timely as NATO is set to adopt a new Strategic Concept at the Lisbon Summit in November, which will guide its activities in the years to come. It is also undergoing a process of reform that will affect NATO’s military command structure, agencies and Headquarters.