Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC)

Triggered by the expected retirement of its Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) fleet around 2035, NATO is defining a new generation of surveillance and control capabilities under the Alliance Future Surveillance and Control (AFSC) Project. Under the governance of all NATO Nations, the new capabilities are expected to fulfil military requirements covering surveillance and tactical control in all domains and in a wide range of operational scenarios.

In February 2017, the North Atlantic Council (NAC) initiated the AFSC Concept Stage with NSPA as the Host Nation to conduct studies and develop technical concepts. NSPA formed the AFSC Project Office to manage the AFSC Concept Stage activities in close collaboration with other NATO bodies, Nations and Industry.

Through this work, NSPA is evaluating new technologies and exploring a system of systems approach including potential combinations of air, ground, maritime, and space systems working together to collect and share information. These efforts supported and resourced by all NATO Nations are helping to inform decisions to acquire new surveillance and control systems in future.

At the end of 2018, the NAC declared the first phase of the AFSC Concept Stage complete and agreed to advance into the second phase, paving the way for the AFSC Project Office to conduct initial high-level concept studies with 6 industry participants. These studies led to the identification of three promising concepts and in 2021, NSPA awarded three contracts for Risk Reduction and Feasibility Studies (RRFS), one per study, to the ABILITI team*, the ASPAARO team**, and a team led by General Atomics***, to further develop and analyze their feasibility.

Following the study period, a team of Subject Matter Experts from NATO Nations, Agencies and Strategic Commands will assess industry's findings and make recommendations for a final AFSC Technical Concept. In the final phase of the concept stage Nations will take decisions to initiate development programmes to fill potential capability gaps identified based on the AFSC requirements and the agreed technical concept. The implementation of AFSC is expected to follow an incremental approach with initial development starting already in 2024-25 and further capabilities added over time according to the agreed concept and architecture.

NATO's AFSC Initiative continues to progress on schedule

Figure caption: All AFSC studies developed a System-of-Systems concept to answer challenging surveillance and control requirements from NATO's military authorities (graphic for illustration purposes only).*The ABILITI team led by Boeing includes the following companies – Indra (Spain), Leonardo (Italy), Inmarsat (United Kingdom), Thales (France), ESG (Germany), Lufthansa Technik (Germany), and Mott MacDonald (United Kingdom). 

**The ASPAARO team, co-led by Airbus Defence and Space (Airbus DS) and Northrop Grumman, includes BAE Systems (United Kingdom), GMV Aerospace (Spain), Exence S.A. (Poland), Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace (Norway), MDA Systems (Canada), Lockheed Martin (USA) and IBM (USA).

***General Atomics team including ViaSat (USA), Leidos (USA), Raytheon (USA), Rohde & Schwarz (Germany), Saab Sensis (USA), Sener Aerospatiale (Spain) and Leonardo (United Kingdom).