NATO Naval Forces Sensor and Weapons Accuracy Check Sites

​Mission

In keeping with NATO doctrine, which recognises that interoperability is key to the effectiveness and success of maritime operations, the Project's mission is to maximise the lethality, operational readiness and interoperability of NATO maritime forces through comprehensive calibration of sensor, weapon, combat, communication, and navigation systems to clearly defined accuracy and performance standards.  In order to support:

• Verification and restoration of optimal Operational Capability (OC) and interoperability.
• Provision of near real-time OC assurance to Alliance and National Command Chains.
• Validation of new and upgraded maritime platforms and capabilities.​
  

Strategic Context

The FORACS project is available to all NATO nations to provide maritime ships, submarines, aircraft and unmanned systems with facilities to undergo a comprehensive analysis and calibration of sensor, weapon and navigation systems.

It is supported by eight member nations: Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, United Kingdom, and the United States. These nations fund the operation and maintenance (O&M) costs on a shared basis and actively participate in the project.

The Strategic Commanders, through ACT and SHAPE (ACO), provide operational guidance to the Steering Committee. Along with the NATO Strategic Commanders (SCs), each member nation is represented on the NATO FORACS Steering Committee, which oversees the Project.

Non-participating nations pay a pro-rated cost for services received, which reduces the overall cost to the participating nations and increases efficiency of the sites.

The military requirement for the sites as well as the responsibilities of both Strategic Commands (SCs) is clarified with the Bi-Strategic Commanders (SC) letter¹ dated 18 Mar 04, COS SHAPE letter² dated 18 Oct 06 and the Bi-SC letter³ dated 12 Feb 08.  NATO FORACS is required to meet its mission and be able to respond to the operational commander.  It is an operational requirement that NATO-assigned ships meet the standards prescribed in various STANAGS dealing with sensor and weapon system standards for NATO ships, even if the responsibility remains with the national navies.  The SCs’ required capabilities are clearly stated in the Bi-SC letter dated 12 Feb 08 and are particularly pertinent as NATO maritime forces continue to conduct Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) and other maritime operations such as counter-piracy Operation Ocean Shield (OOS) and NRF certification exercises.

² SHJ3/06-201022 NATO FORACS in Wartime and Hostilities​
³  SHJ3JOPS/2008 – 204030 and 5000TC-70/TT-243/Ser:NU0012 – NATO Naval Forces Sensors and Weapons Accuracy Check Site (NATO FORACS) – Bi-SC Statement of Requirements

NATO FORACS Greece Range Site