NATO states and Sweden to create common network of satellite reconnaissance
Representatives of seventeen NATO member states and Sweden signed an agreement of intent to create a common satellite reconnaissance network, TASS reports
The document was signed by Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Turkey, France and Sweden.
The agreement declares the desire to ‘develop a framework enabling to improve the possibilities of observing from space through international co-operation and the joint use of national space capabilities’.
Before the two-day meeting of the heads of the military departments of the NATO countries, which is ending in Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the bloc will approve a decision to create a virtual network that combines data from commercial and state civil and military satellites for intelligence needs, including strategic defence and detection of missile launches.