As an outcome of the 2014 Wales Summit, several Nations created the Air to Ground Precision Guided Munitions Initiative – a multinational NATO High Visibility Project, with the objective to commonly procure, transport and store precision guided munitions (PGMs). The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) took the lead through its Ammunition Support Partnership and established acquisition frameworks through Direct Commercial and Foreign Military Sales.
The Multinational Ammunition Warehousing Initiative (MAWI) was initiated in June 2021 and is intended to provide its participants with a scalable, expandable and flexible solution for multinational stockpiling munitions. This initiative is particularly relevant within the context of NATO’s three existing battle decisive munitions (BDM) High Visibility Projects.
The MAWI solution in Belgium was recently opened and will provide NSPA with storage and workshop capabilities for PGMs, ammunition and explosives.
The Belgian MAWI solution will allow NSPA to:
- Stockpile PGMs, ammunition and explosives;
- Perform minor maintenance actions;
- Allow recoding activities by the US Government to exchange weapons amongst Precision Guided Munitions Sub Group (PGM SG) member nations.
NSPA expects a first delivery of aircraft bombs and fuzes for multiple nations to the Belgian MAWI solution by September 2023.
A Support Partnership (SP), a distinctive feature of NSPA, is a multinational cooperation mechanism established on the initiative of two or more NATO nations wishing to organise common support and services activities. Participating Nations provide governance and guidance, whereas NSPA develops capabilities and manages Nations’ requirements. The consolidation of requirements provides economies of scale, reducing costs and logistics footprint, and the legal framework offers a common and efficient support. The Support Partnership format also encourages the Participating Nations to discuss their logistics support challenges so that common and individual requirements can be identified and addressed.
