TODAY’S CAPABILITIES IN TOMORROW’S OPERATIONS:
IMPROVING THE MILITARY TOOLKIT

Jaroslav BAŠKA
State Secretary, MOD Slovakia

Bratislava, 17 January 2008


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Good evening, dear guests,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Great pleasure and privilege for me to speak—again—at this national and international venue. Last year, terrorism was on the agenda. This year, conference deals with comprehensive approach to operations and NATO’s Bucharest summit.

At the outset, would like to thank the organizers for pursuing the tradition of annual security conferences.
 Very important for engaging governmental and non-governmental experts in devising better policies, as we look ahead to the emerging operational environment.
 Also important for taking stock of achieved progress, as we look ahead to NATO’s summit in Romania.

By the end of 2010, Slovakia must contribute adequately to NATO and EU crisis management. Our forces must be properly manned, equipped, organized and trained for the full spectrum of operations. These operations include classical combat operations, as well as a host of low intensity, humanitarian and training missions.

Our units are active in crisis regions, from Bosnia to Kosovo to Cyprus to Afghanistan. Close to 11,000 Slovak military professionals have served the cause of peace, stability and freedom since 1993.

Since last yeear, we are active participants in the 25-thousand strong NATO Response Force, which can be deployed at quick notice globally, and will provide 2 Battle Groups for the EU. Indeed, as we speak, mechanized batallion in Martin is on NATO standby, ready to react to any possible contingency.

To make a meaningful contribution, Slovakia needs usable forces. Usability means being able to deploy far away from national territory and to sustain forces over a long time if needed.

Using the examples of Afghanistan and the Balkans, today’s conference has addressed, in the most practical way, the parameters of the emerging operational environment into which we are sending our troops. NATO Forces must be ready to respond to threats flexibly and to rapidly commit to a wide range of multinational and joint expeditionary operations without geographical limitations.

In order to remain relevant as a political tool, the Armed Forces are developing a number of key capabilities:
 Quick deployment and mobility;
 Network Enabled Capability;
 Effective intelligence,
 Destructiveness and accuracy of military actions;
 Safety and resilience, including force protection against nuclear, chemical and biological weapons;
 Information operations;
 Multinational logistics;
 Civil-military cooperation.

A few examples of how my government is pursuing these obejctives.

Current threats to our security require inter-agency responses.
 At national level, my government will develop an integrated security system to control and coordinate all defense-related organizations, including a national early warning capability. The MOD has initiated an inter-agency capability review, which hopefully will give us a better picture of the various existing—and missing—capabilities for dealing with crises.
 At international level, the Armed Forces must establish structures and procedures for interacting with civilian actors, from development agencies to non-governmental organizations to the civilian population. A CIMIC capability is being implemented under the NATO Force Goals.
 I am encouraged by the increasingly expeditionary mindset of agencies other than the Armed Forces. The Ministry of Interior has participated in training Iraqi policemen, assigned forces to the European Gendarmerie Force and is sending officers to Kosovo under the EU Police Mission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies are putting increasing amounts of money in the foreign aid program. Slovakia’s cumulated Official Development Assistance in 2007 reached 1.7 billion SK, or over 51 million EUROS.
 Slovak non-governmental organizations have long been active in humanitarian and democratization projects in the Balkans and elsewhere.
 And more should be done to achieve a truly comprehensive approach at home and abroad.

My country has joined the coalition of countries who fight decidedly against terrorism. We act and we lead. One demonstration is our role as NATO’s Lead Nation in Explosive Ordnance Disposal, or EOD. We made this decision based on a longstanding tradition in producing ammunition and explosives, as well as on the experience we gained while disposing of the unfortunate legacy of two World Wars.

Since 2005, the main focus of our activities has been on producing tangible results in the form of new technologies, weaponry, material, equipment, methods and procedures. These can benefit both the Alliance and our own armed forces. Slovakia’s military is undergoing reform, based on NATO Force Goals, and we are making EOD a key area of role specialization. Our key niche capabilities are engineering/demining and NBC protection. In these fields, our personnel and equipment are world class. Last year, we inaugurated the EOD Center of Excellence in Nováky, with headquarters in Trenčín. This training and testing facility will support NATO interoperability in a key niche area, as well as our own EOD units.

There have been significant developments on the virtual front as well. Last year we spoke about terrorist use of the internet as a recruitment and planning tool. On April 27, 2007, a rush of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks hit important Estonian websites, continuing for almost 2 months. The website of the president, parliament, ministries, political parties, major news outlets, and Estonia’s two dominant banks were all hit. These attacks highlighted the vulnerability of the physical and virtual infrastructure of our information societies. The rapid evolution of technologies leads basically to a cat-and-mouse game between the attacker and the defender: more threats lead to more protective measures. Estonia asked its Allies for help, and NATO responded by sending experts.

The Alliance is now developing a comprehensive policy for cyberdefense. As the NATO Secretary General said last week when outlining the priorities for 2008, this is a subject where NATO has expertise and can provide added value. Slovakia would like to see this policy endorsed as one of the practical deliverables of the Bucharest summit. The Slovak military is developing protective capabilities in the frame of the Information Assurance Framework of the NATO Network Enabled Capability. Since 1993, no penetration into MOD virtual systems has been publicized by our ever-hungry media, which may be considered a success.

Let us turn again to the physical, technical side of things. To support the capabilities of the Armed Forces, several key armaments projects are included in the Long Term Plan 2015:
 Small infantry arms for HUMINT, or Human Intelligence Teams,
 Container program for National Support Element,
 Modernization and acquisition of Armed Personnel Carriers,
 Development of Slovak-made armed carriers TATRAPAN,
 Radar acquisitions,
 Medium and heavy cargo vehicles,
 Small terrain vehicles,
 Artillery systems,
 Comprehensive medical and NBC protection,
 Improving personal arms and materiel,
 Tactical airlift,
 NATO and EU projects, such as Alliance Ground Surveillance and Force Protection.

Let me highlight one project that is a key driver of interoperability throughout the Armed Forces: the Mobile Communications System, or MOKYS. The project will establish a unified communications environment that will allow continuous command and control of operations in all functional dimensions. All units of the Armed Forces will be able to communicate at operational to tactical level. The system will also support C2 conducted at the strategic level.

The project is important in several respects. First, implementing MOKYS is a precondition for full interoperability of our NATO-assigned units. Second, recalling my points on cyber protection, the project involves advanced protective features against unauthorized entry, integrating physical, communications and information security. Third, when fully implemented, the MOKYS can serve other Allies in NATO operations. Fourth, the systems integrator, BAE SYSTEMS, is leading a team of companies that involves Slovak subcontractors in key aspects. And fifth, the MOKYS is a pioneering example of offsets in Slovakia. The recently signed Letter of Agreement on Offsets will support Slovak companies, military and civilian, to extract benefits from this major acquisition project.

My government is committed to supporting the Slovak defense industrial base, based on the requirements of the Slovak Armed Forces. I have the President of the Defense Industry Association on my side to talk about details. Let me say one thing from my perspective—the future of Slovak defense companies lies in international cooperation. There are significant opportunities, but also significant challenges: our industrial base has, so far, largely failed to adapt to the new capability requirements of our military. The MOD, for its part, has too often been an unreliable customer in terms of vision, planning and execution. By the end of 2010, we hope to be able to demonstrate that the MOD—working in cooperation with the Ministries of Economy and Foreign Affairs and industry representatives—has opened new markets and financed new international projects where Slovakia’s technical engineers may realize their creative potential.

Which brings me to my last point. In December, the Government adopted a new piece of legislation on offsets. Offsets are economic compensations provided by a foreign contractor or subcontractor for substantial purchases of defense- and security-related technology, materiel and services from the national budget.
 Offsets will be applied to any foreign contract exceeding 6 million EUROS or subcontract exceeding 3 million EUROS.
 The offsetor must provide 100% of the contract value in offsets.
 The winner must involve Slovak defense companies to the minimum extent of 20% of the work in direct participation in the project, or 30% in any defense-related business.
 An Inter-Agency Offset Commission is being established by the Minister of Economy to implement the new legislation.
 High-value offsets, for example in research and development or direct investment, may be awarded a significant multiplier.

Offsets are a reality and common practice among NATO and EU countries. At the same time, we support work in the European Defense Agency (EDA) to harmonize offset rules so that there can be progress toward a European defense market. For small and transforming countries without a big defense industry—such as Slovakia—offsets can help the economy, both civilian and military. Offsets will be applied to future purchases of major military equipment, including armed personnel carriers, radar equipment, wheeled vehicles, aircraft and others. Outside the security domain, we want to use offsets to promote a knowledge-based economy.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Future operations require a fresh look at our legacy capabilities and the courage to transform our militaries into relevant tools that can support our political objectives. My goal was to illustrate how we are approaching this challenge.

All the best and thank you very much.