Homebase >
Land Operations
Land forces are required to operate in dynamic, complex and increasingly urban environments. To be successful they must contend with a range of conditions, including the population, geography, terrain, climate, electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) and the availability (or lack) of infrastructure in their area of operations. Land forces also face a number of other challenges, such as being required to execute missions in areas that do not permit a permanent presence to be maintained due to their size or character. Another challenge is the potential for the intensity of operations to change abruptly. Therefore, land forces must have a broad spectrum of capabilities and assets at different echelons, which must be employed according to the particular context.
(Allied Joint Doctrine for Land Operations, AJP-3.2 Ed. B, Feb. 2022)
Related Publications
Joint Personnel Recovery in an Urban Environment
By Lt Col
Javier
Aguilar Gonzalez
By Mr
Marco
Gazzaniga
By Cdr
Andrea
Magi
By Maj
Brian
Nielsen
Urban warfare is not a new phenomenon: Syria, Iraq, Ukraine, and Gaza are just some of the most recent examples. As global urbanization accelerates, it becomes increasingly probable that the Alliance will be involved in [...]
A World Reshaped
Navigating the Ripple Effects of Shifting Power Dynamics
By Cdr
Aaron
Shiffer
As we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of NATO, let us take the time to reflect on the complex, dynamic, multipolar world in which the Alliance finds itself. The ever-evolving security landscape, beset [...]
Drone Drills
How to Prepare for a Drone Incident
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
Well-established emergency procedures are vital for swift and efficient crisis management across military, civil, and public sectors. These protocols encompass first aid, fire, and bomb threat calls, aiming to save lives, prevent harm, and minimize [...]
NATO Rapid Air Mobility
Bringing the ‘Rapid’ into NATO Air Transport
By Maj
Massimo
Di Milia
‘Obtaining additional air transport mobility – and obtaining it now – will better assure the ability of our conventional forces to respond, with discrimination and speed, to any problem at any spot on the globe [...]
The Multinational Joint Warfare Centre
A Leading Centre of Warfare
By Col
Murat
Çam
The modern battlefield dynamics are changing as much and as rapidly as the requirements of the forces operating in it. Thus, the training and exercises required to ensure the operational readiness of forces demands continuous [...]
Targeting with Due Regard to Cultural Property
By Mr
Adam
Jux
By Prof.
Adrian
Parker
Damage and destruction of Cultural Property (CP) is a regrettable feature of warfare throughout history. The reasons range from the incidental, such as careless indifference, collateral damage coincident to legitimate acts, or lack of knowledge [...]
Quantum Technology for Defence
What to Expect for the Air and Space Domains
By Lt Col
Denis
Dúbravčík
By Dr
Michal
Krelina
Quantum Technology (QT) has its foundation in quantum mechanics, a discipline more than one hundred years old. The first applications of quantum mechanics, known as Quantum Revolution 1.0, include nuclear fission, lasers, semiconductors, etc., where [...]
NATO IAMD Education and Training
Back to the New Normal
By Lt Col
Berry
Pronk
Russia’s air and missile attacks on Ukraine underscored the importance of Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) and, more specifically, Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence (SBAMD) as an essential part of NATO’s Defensive Counter-Air (DCA) [...]
Introduction to the Resilient Basing Enhancement Workbook 2nd Edition
By Wg Cdr
Jez
Parkinson
By Lt Col
Frans
Van de Weerd
Update January 2024: The number of inputs received up to now is insufficient to make a thorough analysis. As stated in para 1.5 Caveat: ‘A delay in response will result in a corresponding delay [...]
Close Air Support Command and Control
Digitally Enhanced CAS Operations
By Lt Col
Osman
Aksu
Today’s military operations are becoming more complicated with the increasing number and variety of options available to commanders at all levels. The expansion of military activity beyond the Air, Maritime, and Land domains to Space [...]
Air-Land Integration – Bridging the Gaps in Joint with Force Education and Training
Practical Solutions for Air-Land Interoperability in NATO
By Lt Col
Sarah V.
Fortin
By Lt Col
Pasquale
Masone
In military and industry circles, it is very common to hear technology promoted as a joint and interoperable capability without much attention being paid to the people employing those capabilities. No matter how much faith [...]
25 Years of Integrated Air and Missile Defence Training
Sharpening and Sharing Knowledge to Prepare for the Future
By Lt Col
Berry
Pronk
The Cold War timeframe is often looked upon as a gloomy era; however, it also provided positive things, like military, social, and relative political stability in Western Europe. The end of the Cold War gave [...]
Transitioning NATO to an All-Domain Mindset
By Capt
Daniel
Cochran
By Col
Matthew
Willis
Joint All-Domain Operations (JADO) is a concept with the ambition of maximizing the effectiveness of all declared NATO forces through broadly focusing on two critical interoperability areas: obstacles between services and across the nations. The [...]
The ‘Land Approach’ to the Space Domain
Developing Space Expertise in Land Forces
By Maj Gen
Gianluca
Carai
Space has recently been recognized by NATO as the fifth operational domain for military operations and guarantees fundamental services and applications for all Armed Forces, strongly influencing the success of modern military operations. Main services provided [...]
Aeromedical Evacuation in NATO
Where is the Alliance?
By Maj
Jacopo
Frassini, MD
By Col
Petr
Král, MD
According to the NATO terminology database, Aeromedical Evacuation (AE) is the movement of patients under medical supervision by air transport to and between Medical Treatment Facilities (MTFs) as an integral part of the treatment continuum. In [...]
NATO Force Protection on a Knife Edge
A Think-Piece
By Wg Cdr
Jez
Parkinson
Like previous Force Protection (FP) pieces published by the JAPCC, this work is designed to be a ‘Think-Piece’. Its purpose is to provoke debate with the deliberate intention of engaging and challenging colleagues in that [...]
Future Battlespace Management
Fighting and Winning in the Increasingly Complex Air Operations Environment of the Future
By Lt Col
Livio
Rossetti
Robust Anti-Access and Area-Denial (A2/AD) structures, coupled with the proliferation of advanced technologies across multiple domains, will dominate the third dimension in the coming decades. Potential adversaries will blend conventional, asymmetric, and hybrid capabilities across [...]
Protection of Critical Infrastructure
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
By Mr
Alex
Morrow
By Mr
Phil
Pitsky
By Mr
Amit
Samani
The challenges in countering drones are faced in both war and peacetime. As discussed in the previous chapters of this book, the risks presented by drones have increasingly come into the civilian focus over recent [...]
A Comprehensive Approach to Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems
This technical manual covers all aspects of having to counter the full spectrum of unmanned aircraft and their respective system components. It should serve to bring together both civilian and military experts by initiating thought [...]
Air-Land Integration – NATO’s Strategic Joint Challenge
The Importance of Education and Training for Improving Joint Force Interoperability
By Lt Col
Sarah V.
Fortin
By Lt Col
Livio
Rossetti
As airmen and soldiers working in a joint force environment, various definitions and associations come to mind when discussing the extensive and historically important topic that entails the military effects of Air-Land Integration (ALI). ALI [...]
The Importance of Integrated Air and Missile Defence Training
A Renaissance of NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence?
By Lt Col
Berry
Pronk
In January 1991, the Netherlands deployed two PATRIOT squadrons under Article 4 of the NATO agreement to South-East Turkey in support of operation ‘Desert Shield’. Not long afterwards a third PATRIOT Squadron was sent to [...]
Reshaping Close Support
By Capt
Daniel
Cochran
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
By Lt Col
Panagiotis
Stathopoulos
A Future Vision of Close Joint Support Troops are in contact across a broad, disjointed front. Joint Fires Controllers (JFCs) and their assigned teams of Joint Fires Observers (JFOs) are in high demand and are [...]
NATO Training and Benefits of a Multi-Domain Approach to Targeting
By Mr
Adam
Jux
Since the early 2000’s the western world, and particularly NATO, has been progressively scrutinized in their ability to conduct offensive operations. Targeting (the method by which we conduct offensive operations) has been developed and refined [...]
A Comprehensive Approach to Countering Unmanned Aircraft Systems
And Why Current Initiatives Fall Short
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
Over the last decades, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) have been fielded in every military service, ranging from handheld micro-UAS to medium-sized tactical systems to fully grown and Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA). At the same time, [...]
The Rise of Consumer Drones Threat
By Dr
Claudio
Palestini
Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), more commonly referred to as drones, have been one of the most rapidly advancing technologies developed in the last decade. While remotely-piloted aircraft have been traditionally used by the military and, [...]
Precision-Guided Munitions of the Future
And the Related Challenges to NATO
By Lt Col
Francesco
Esposito
‘War has always been a chameleon, it is ever-changing, adapting to new circumstances and camouflaging itself …’ Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831) There has been a remarkable acceleration with the use of guided weapons since Operation [...]
Mission and Vision of Italian Army Aviation
An Interview with General Paolo Riccò, Commander of Italian Army Aviation
By Brig Gen
Paolo
Riccò
By Lt Col
Livio
Rossetti
Over the last thirty years, without interruption, Italian Army Aviation has been employed in missions abroad and has operated in a broad spectrum of geographic and climatic locations. Army Aviation has adapted to combat multidimensional [...]
The Implications for Force Protection Practitioners of Having to Counter Unmanned Systems
A Think-Piece
By Wg Cdr
Jez
Parkinson
The subject of Counter-Unmanned Air Systems (C-UAS) has become what can best be described as a ‘hot-topic’, not just for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but, globally. The primary question that this think-piece seeks [...]
Future Battlefield Rotorcraft Capability
Anno 2035 and Beyond
By Cdr
Maurizio
Modesto
Forecasting the future is a daunting task, however, identified fast-moving trends across the diplomatic, information, military, and economic subjects are rapidly transforming the nature of all aspects of society and human life, including the character [...]
Close Air Support of the Future
Is the Present Concept Still Adequate?
By Lt Col
Michele
Ferrari di Valbona
By Lt Col
Andrea
Olivieri
After the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in Afghanistan, many of the Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTP), as well as Lessons Learned/Lessons Identified (LL/LI) evolved within permissive air environments. [...]
Future Battlefield Rotorcraft Capability
Operating in the Land and Littoral Environment Anno 2035 - Part 2: Analysing Future User Requirements
By Col
Wim
Schoepen
This topic was the subject of an essay paper the author wrote under supervision of the University of Lincoln, UK. For the purpose of JAPCC Journal publication, the essay has been divided into three parts [...]
Future Options for Surface-Based Air and Missile Defence?
By Lt Col
Andreas
Schmidt
France, in 1794, was the first nation to use aerial balloons for reconnaissance purposes. Subsequently, it took almost 100 years for the German military to realize that small cannons could be used to intercept those [...]
Unintentional Air Strikes during Dynamic Operations
NATO Views and Possible Fixes
By Lt Col
Michele
Ferrari di Valbona
By Lt Col
Andrea
Olivieri
Images of bombed hospitals stunned participants of the 2016 JAPCC Conference, as a Panellist raised the unsettling and poignant issue about how operations sometimes transcend military objectives. Specifically, the panellist expressed concern about ‘recurring kinetic [...]
Detecting and Neutralizing Mini-Drones
Sensors and Effectors against an Asymmetric Threat
By Ms
Daniela
Pistoia
Small (15–150 kg), mini (<15 kg), micro (<66 J energy state) Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) will drastically proliferate in the near future with rapidly advancing performance and functionalities. Progress in power storage, avionics miniaturization, materials [...]
Future Battlefield Rotorcraft Capability
Operating in the Land and Littoral Environment Anno 2035 - Part 1: Analysing the Future Operating Environment
By Col
Wim
Schoepen
This topic was the subject of an essay paper the author recently wrote under supervision of the University of Lincoln, UK. For the purpose of publication in this journal, the essay has been divided into [...]
Beating Brownout
Technology Helps, but Training Remains Key
By Cdr
Maurizio
Modesto
When I started my helicopter pilot training at Whiting Field (US), I practiced my landings on clean, square, cement pavement. Conditions hardly differed when I made my first operational landings as a Navy helicopter pilot. [...]
The Rise of Close Air Support after World War II
Did the US Army and US Air Force Inter-Service Rivalry Benefit Close Air Support?
By Maj
Paul R.
Andrews
On a cold, clear night in Afghanistan in November 2011, an Air Force AC-130 Gunship and an AH-64 Apache check in with the Army ground party they are to work with. Both aircraft are providing [...]
The Competence Centre for Surface Based Air and Missile Defence
Preserving the EADTF Legacy and Furthering the IAMD Mission
By Lt Col
Thorsten
Tanski
On 3 December 1999, the Extended Air Defence Task Force (EADTF) was installed in Burbach, Germany. At that time, the mission spectrum for Ground Based Air Defence (GBAD) forces had expanded to include the defence [...]
NATO Deployable Airbase Activation Modules
Paving the Way Towards a NATO Deployable Airbase
By Lt Col
Joop
Berghuizen
While the current Force Planning methodology in NATO is highly consistent and stringent, one significant weakness is the system completely depends on the nations to quickly provide sufficient capability to respond to rapidly emerging challenges, [...]
Institutionalizing Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Lessons Learned from Afghanistan
An Overview – Part 2
By Wg Cdr
Jez
Parkinson
As this is the conclusion of a two-part article, it is highly recommended to read, or re-read, Part 1 before reading this portion. As a reminder, this article represents the distillation of many hundreds of [...]
Small Drones
From Cheap Toys to Terrorist Tools – Detection and Disruption Challenges
By Mr
Knut Torbjørn
Moe
In recent years, military personnel have become increasingly familiar with the use of drones for anything from practice targets to air strikes. Military drones show huge promise and will certainly play an important role in [...]
Institutionalizing Counter-Improvised Explosive Device Lessons Learned from Afghanistan
An Overview – Part 1
By Wg Cdr
Jez
Parkinson
Background. In January 2014, the JAPCC, together with the Joint Allied Lessons Learned Centre (JALLC), was asked by NATO HQ Emerging Security Challenges Division (ESCD), on behalf of NATO’s Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (C-IED) Task Force, [...]
Standardization of Qualifications for NATO Helicopter Crews in Support of Land Operations
By Maj
Hein
Faber
The Joint Air Power Competence Centre (JAPCC) conducted a study in 2012 examining the vertical lift capability of the majority of European NATO member states. The Study, etc.). However, problems related to standardization of qualifications [...]
Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems in Contested Environments
A Vulnerability Analysis
By Lt Col
Andre
Haider
Over the past two decades, Remotely Piloted Aircraft System(s) (RPAS) have been fielded in increasing numbers across many nations and military services. RPAS provide distinctive capabilities for the Joint Force Commander (JFC) with reduced risk [...]
Developing Future Force Protection Capability
Part 1: Where Might We Be Going and Where Should We Be Going?
By Wg Cdr
Jez
Parkinson
This 2-part article focussed on Force Protection (FP) will discuss some of the issues surrounding where NATO FP might be going and explore where perhaps it should be going? In this first instalment, the author [...]
Personnel Recovery
That Others May Live to Return with Honour
Throughout history, armies traditionally fought the wars whilst government officials, explorers and tourists travelled and worked all over the globe. During war, travel or exploration, individuals may have become isolated from their group, or the [...]
NATO Air and Space Power in Counter-IED Operations
Publication of JAPCC Primer
By Gp Capt
Dai
John
In recent years, Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have increasingly become a feature of modern conflict, their ease of production using locally-available materials and deployment via support networks providing adversaries, unable to compete on conventional terms, [...]
