The contract was awarded through the Ammunition Support Partnership (ASP), established in 1993 and comprising of 28 member nations. The partnership facilitates the collective procurement and management of ammunition, ensuring member nations can invest in advanced weapon systems and expand their munitions inventories.
By aggregating requirements through multinational contracts, NSPA offers turnkey solutions that enable member nations to get access to the resources they need to maintain readiness and operational effectiveness. Multiple Ammunition Support Partnership member nations leverage this mechanism to procure Precision Guided Munitions (PGMs) to invest in new weapon systems and build up inventory. The aggregation of requirements offer flexibility and economies of scale.
This collaborative approach not only strengthens individual national capabilities but also enhances the overall operational effectiveness of NATO forces. This contract is therefore a significant contribution to the NATO Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge agreed at the NATO Washington Summit in July 2024, aiming to accelerate defence industrial capacity and production across the Alliance, and underscoring the strategic importance of transatlantic defence cooperation: “We pledge to increase large scale, multinational procurement (…) Joint procurement is at the heart of bolstering interoperability and interchangeability and delivers better value for money. Seek to make greater use of existing, tried and tested frameworks, including those offered by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).”
