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Delivering ‘Match Fit’ Command and Control for 21st Century NATO Operations: Airing an Inner Monologue - Captain Andrew Ainsley RN
This is a pre-read for the Annual C2 Conference 2025 by Captain Andrew Ainsley RN.
For years, people have opined on Command and Control and its place on the modern battlefield. With NATO’s recent adoption of the Concept for Defence and Deterrence of the Euro-Atlantic (DDA), and with a war raging in Europe, now would seem to be the right time to sanity check how the Alliance will deliver Command and Control. To tarry on this key aspect of warfighting while attempting to make forces more ready and prepared for escalation between competition, crisis, and conflict could have dire consequences. However, any such endeavour must do so by blending theory with practice, complexity with simplicity, and offering clarity not confusion. For NATO these aspects are manifest recognising that it draws from across 32 nations, each with a subtly different context and nuance. But not all the answers will stem from the Russia/Ukraine conflict, Artificial Intelligence and Technology are not a golden bullet, and the only certainty is the lack of certainty. The time is now, with DDA as the catalyst, for NATO to close with, and as a minimum contemplate, the effectiveness of its Command and Control. If it does not, then the future does not augur well; let the debate begin.
