NATO's Allied Maritime Power at 75 Conference

Refreshments will be available for delegates during registration.

In the immediate term, the Alliance has a renewed focus on its eastern flank. What should the role of the naval instrument be in supporting deterrence in this context? Should Europe’s navies focus on containing threats emanating from the north as they did during much of the Cold War or is a more forward leaning maritime posture the asymmetrical offset that NATO needs? To what extent does the defence of the alliances extended SLOCS and its access to critical materials serve as an orienting task? While each of these missions is necessary in itself, trade-offs will need to be made and this panel will seek to examine the lines of effort which should be prioritised.

Chair: Professor Peter Roberts, Senior Associate Fellow, RUSI

Speakers:

• Professor James Bergeron, Political Advisor to Commander Allied Maritime Command
• Niklas Granholm, Deputy Director of Studies, FOI
• Rear Admiral Tim Henry, Royal Navy, Deputy Commander Allied Joint Force Command Norfolk

The alliance’s maritime area of operations is inherently heterogenous and NATO must surmount the challenges of operating in environments ranging from the closed Baltic and Black seas to the High North.  What are the specific challenges and opportunities facing the alliance in each of its strategic seas and how can efforts to achieve regionally specific goals be coordinated at the level of Europe as a theatre?

Chair: Professor Geoffrey Till, Kings College London

Speakers:

• Rear Admiral Ewa Skoog Haslum, Chief of Navy, Royal Swedish Navy
• Vice Admiral Mihai Panait, Chief of Navy, Romanian Navy
• Vice Admiral Rune Andersen, Chief of the Norwegian Joint Headquarters

While a focus on Russia may be the alliances immediate focus, will this be the case in the long term or will different challenges upend present assumptions? To what extent should the Alliances navies prepare to transition to meeting challenges further afield in areas such as the Indo Pacific or in new theatres of operation like the Arctic? Is a focus on more distant threats prudent hedging against future change or is it a distraction from a Russia pacing challenge which will prove durable?

Chair: Professor James Bergeron, Political Advisor Commander, Allied Maritime Command

Speakers:           

• Dr Andrew Monaghan, Director of the Russia Research Network and RUSI Senior Associate
• Melanie Marlowe, Senior Associate, CSIS
• Professor Geoffrey Till, King's College London

The strategic effect that the alliance’s navies can deliver will to a considerable degree be determined by their capacity to generate effects inland. This is not new, and was true of the cold war. However the challenges of delivering effects at reach and under contested conditions have evolved as a consequence of both strategic and technological developments. How are allied navies preparing to ensure that they can continue to combine their mobility with reach?

Chair: Commander Rene Balletta, First Sea Lords Visiting Fellow, RUSI

Speakers:      

• Vice Admiral Aurelio De Carolis, Italian Navy, Commander in Chief Naval Fleet.
• Rear Admiral Tom Wall, United States Navy, Commander Allied Submarines Forces, NATO
• Commodore James Blackmore, RN Commander Carrier Strike Group
• Captain Sebastian Martinot, French Navy, Former Commanding Officer Charles De Gaulle
• Rear Admiral Craig Wood, Deputy Commander STRIKFORNATO

In the littoral, Allied naval power will most directly interact with allied operations on the land. If this space can be exploited, maritime mobility can become a force multiplier for the alliance. If navies are forced away from the littoral, on the other hand, this could become a seam between Allied component commands. How are the amphibious forces of the alliance evolving to ensure that NATO  can continue to exploit the littoral as a manoeuvre space?

Chair: Dr Kevin Rowlands, Head of the Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre

Speakers:

• Brigadier Christopher Haw, Director Future Commando Force Programme
• Brigadier General Ivo Moerman, Commandant, RNLMC

• Colonel Steve Eastin, Head of Expeditionary Warfare Strategic Coordination Group, USN

This panel will address what the operational considerations discussed in previous sessions mean for force designers and planners. Navies will, as always, have to cultivate the full gamut of capabilities and enablers, including personnel. How will the Alliance cultivate its human capital from strategic thinkers to personnel in an ever more competitive marketplace for talent. What needs to be done to make sure that future force designs leverage technological change rather than being undercut by it?

Chair: Matthew Savill, Director Military Sciences RUSI

Speakers: 

• Andrew Young, Royal Navy Strategic Studies Centre
• David Hook CBE, Capita
• Nicola Longland, HR Vice President, BAE Maritime Land

Closing Keynote: Admiral Sir Ben Key KCB, CBE, ADC, First Sea Lord