NATO's New Defense Program: Issues for Consideration

NATO is recognized to be this country's single most important security arrangement. Its new plan, the Long-Term Defense Program (LTDP), reflects the alliance's most recent acknowledgement of, and effort to resolve, its well-known shortcomings and deficiencies in light of the buildup of the Warsaw Pact forces. The plan focuses on NATO's priority defense concerns, which are: readiness; reinforcement; reserve forces; maritime posture; air defense; command, control and communications; electronic warfare; standardization and interoperability; consumer logistics; and nuclear forces. The U.S. will spend an estimated $40.5 billion for forces committed to NATO in fiscal year 1979. The basic theme of the program is increased cooperation among alliance members. It calls for quantitative increases in forces, weapons, and equipment, and for more effective procedures and plans for multinational coordination and mutual support.