NC3A and Poland to cooperate closely

On 23 and 24 November, a delegation of the NATO C3 Agency went to Poland at Director Information Technology and Telecommunications Department, Dr. Romuald Hoffmann, on behalf of the Polish Authorities.

NC3A demonstrated the added value the Agency could bring Poland and agreed to consolidate further cooperation in the C4ISR area, through a Memorandum of Understanding.

Led by the General Manager Georges d’Hollander, NC3A met the key leaders in the Polish MoD to explore and discuss opportunities for a C4ISR Comprehensive Approach and a strengthening of NATO/Polish cooperation in the area of C4ISR.

Through this visit NC3A secured support from the Polish MoD to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which will provide the legal and contracting conditions required for greater and faster C4ISR mutual cooperation.

NC3A informed the Polish leadership of the capabilities and competences available to them through the Agency. The Polish MoD was not aware of how broad the NC3A’s activities were and how Poland could benefit from the Agency’s inventory of products and services.

Support for MoU

“I fully support the implementation of a MoU, supported by Technical Agreements. We appreciate gaining an understanding of the broader scope of NC3A activities, which goes beyond the Polish traditional understanding of C3. I also agree that we should
examine these additional areas, as required” said Franciszek Gagor, Chief of the Polish General Staff.

He also highlighted the need for Poland to seek the advantages of net-centricity especially in ISAF, where Polish soldiers go on patrol. He emphasized the need for tracking, locating systems, communications capabilities and the means to bring “force
multipliers” to bear in combat. He noted Poland needed Top-Down and Bottom-Up support from NC3A.

Training Centre

The talks led to a discussion about training and exercise support to the Joint Force Training Centre in Bydgoszcz. Bydgoszcz city is also going to become home of NATO’s 3rd Signal Battalion, and a major Doctrine and Training centre for Poland.

Stanislaw Jerzy Komorowski, Undersecretary of State, added that Poland is watching carefully the development of the new Strategic Concept. With Marcin Idzik, Undersecretary of State for Armament and Modernization in Ministry of National Defence, he emphasized the significance and the importance of the NATO Security Investment Program (NATO-SIP) to underpin NATO’s Article 5 and fully supported the signing of a MoU with NC3A.

The visit was highly successful and will be followed by the visit of Ph. D. Romulad Hoffmann, Director Information Technology and Telecommunications Department of the Polish MoD to NC3A in The Hague in December.