Alliance Ground Surveillance

NATO plans to acquire an Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) system that will give commanders a comprehensive picture of the situation on the ground. NATO’s operation to protect civilians in Libya showed how important such a capability is. A group of Allies intends to acquire five unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and the associated command and control base stations. NATO will then operate and maintain them on behalf of all 28 Allies.
The AGS system is expected to be acquired by 14 Allies (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United States), and then will be made available to the Alliance in the 2015-2017 timeframe. This key transatlantic procurement programme is in execution after the 14 acquisition nations signed the procurement contract at the Chicago Summit in May 2012.