LUXEMBOURG - On 1 September 2021, the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system officially entered into its In-Service Support Phase. This major milestone in the AGS Programme marks the completion of the transition from the Acquisition to the Sustainment Phase for the delivered AGS Core System assets.
NATO Alliance Ground Surveillance Management Agency (NAGSMA) is responsible for the Acquisition Phase of the AGS core capability on behalf of the 15 NATO acquiring nations. This phase will be completed by the end of 2021. From 1 September 2021, NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) will officially become the Life Cycle Manager for the AGS Core System on behalf of all the 30 Allies.
The handover of the assets started in December 2020. In August 2021, NSPA awarded a multimillion contract to support fleet readiness, covering operations, maintenance and lifecycle sustainment of NATO's fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles, air vehicle mission command and control stations, and trainer.
From 1 September, NSPA will execute life cycle management responsibilities under the governance of the NSPO AGS Support Partnership that includes all 30 NATO Nations, the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) and the NATO AGS Force as the operational user of the AGS Core System.
NSPA's functional team dedicated to support NATO AGS Force operations includes system engineers, logisticians, procurement and finance staff co-located in Capellen (Luxembourg) and Sigonella (Italy). "Our Agency, with its wide range of expertise and capabilities, is proud to take on such an important role in sustaining this key capability on behalf of the Alliance", assured Mr Doug Heintz, Programme Manager of the NSPA AGS and UAS programme.