Thursday, June 9, 2011

NATO-Russia Helo Care Fund for Afghans Grows

BRUSSELS - Russia is one of the key contributors to a German-led NATO-Russia helicopter maintenance trust fund to allow Afghan forces to keep existing, mainly Russian, helicopters in working order.
"The initial target for the trust fund was $5 million; we've already substantially surpassed that target. The number of contributors is still going up," said a NATO official.
"The main point is to train Afghan engineers and technicians so that they will be able to carry out the proper maintenance at the proper times. We are also looking at providing tool kits and spare parts," the official said.
NATO and Russian defense ministers also discussed missile defense.
"While they agreed that NATO and Russia are coming closer to reaching agreement on the key principles which should govern this cooperation, more work will need to be done over the next few months," said NATO in a press release.
The exchange of classified information, the development of technology able to detect explosive devices and the ways to improve protection of critical infrastructure were cited by NATO as tangible NATO-Russia projects to counter terrorism. NATO and Russian fighter jets are also holding their first joint exercise over Poland and the Black Sea to prevent attacks such as 9/11 by sharing information and coordinating interceptions of renegade aircraft.
Separately, NATO defense ministers adopted a revised NATO Policy on Cyber Defense today. The revised policy will offer a coordinated approach to cyber defense across the alliance with a focus on preventing threats and building resilience.
"All NATO structures will be brought under centralized protection and new cyber defense requirements will be applied," said NATO in a press release.
During a press conference, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that an important element of the new policy is that "all agencies and commands will be under common NATO protection by 2012. By then, our CERT [Computer Emergency Response Team] will have reached full operational capacity, giving us increased situational awareness in all NATO networks, regardless of their geographic location."

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