The 13th meeting of the Civil/Military Spectrum Panel (C3B CaP3) working group was held last 29-30 November in Brussels, co-chaired by Gerard Elzinga (NATO C3S) and Didier Chauveau (Agence Nationale des Fréquences). Portugal was represented by the Armed Forces General Staff and ANACOM.
The purpose of C3B CaP3 vis-à-vis the Atlantic Alliance’s defence capabilities is to make sufficient spectrum resources available to:
(i) ensure that NATO military forces have suitable access to spectrum in order to fulfil their mission;
(ii) harmonise military use of radio frequencies among NATO allies;
(iii) cooperate with the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council/Partnership for Peace countries with a view to achieving identical radio spectrum use.
Various subjects were discussed during the 13th C3B CaP3 meeting, of which the following stand out:
- ITU World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRCs)
Regarding preparations for the upcoming 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the steps to take when drawing up NATO’s position for WRC-19 were verified (development and conciliation of joint civilian and military positions). The WRC-19 Capability Team (CaT) submitted a preliminary position proposal for discussion in CaP3; the group discussed and reached a compromise regarding the first version of the preliminary NATO position for each of the WRC-19 agenda points. After complying with the silence procedure, it will be disclosed by CEPT and the Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL);
- NATO Joint Frequency Agreement 2014
There was consensus about the need to review the NJFA 2014 after WRC-19 in order to adjust the current agreement to changes made to the Radio Regulations (RR) by WRC-15 and WRC-19, and to reflect emerging spectrum needs for military applications. Furthermore, and in addition to the NFJA, the need for NATO to develop a crisis response manual was discussed. The CaT on spectrum analysis was identified as being the forum where initial discussions should take place.
Plans call for the next meeting of the CaP3 group in civilian/military session to be held on 15-16 March 2018 (to be confirmed).
