Overall, MACC 10 was an insightful, interesting and successful event. The Conference theme (“MAR AIR contribution to NATO Operations – New missions and new challenges”) was intended to explore the wide array of missions in which MAR AIR finds its assets being used, from supporting ISAF in Afghanistan to supporting more traditional missions such as patrolling national waters and in counter-piracy.
The agenda was designed to set the conference focus on the transformation that the Alliance is going through in terms of organization and mind set in the conduct of contemporary operations. The main discussion area of the first day concerned the current organic gaps in the management of MAR AIR assets and the future NATO Command Structure (NCS). As a consequence of the NCS review, which envisions 1 Unified Air Command (UAC) and 1 Unified Maritime Command (UMC) under the responsibility of ACO, the MACC participants discussed on the possible implications for the MAR AIR community and identified the need for a strong UMC-UAC linkage.
The second day was dedicated to an in depth look at satellites, UAS and AWACS. Although non-traditional for the employment in the Maritime Domain, these assets can provide essential ISR capabilities to achieve Maritime Situational Awareness in complex scenarios such as Counter Piracy, and in a time of scarce availability of traditional Maritime Air resources. It is a task of the Alliance Maritime Air Community to search for solutions to best employ these assets in the maritime environment and possibly incorporate their capabilities in Maritime Operations.
Download the >>> MACC 2010 Report <<<.
