NIMBLE TITAN provides multi-national cooperation for missile defense

By Jason B. Cutshaw, USASMDC/ARSTRAT Public AffairsApril 25, 2016

NIMBLE TITAN provides multi-national cooperation for missile defense
Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense commander, speaks at the NIMBLE TITAN 16 Wargame as participants join forces in early February to discuss scenarios involving ballistic missile threats 10 years... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

SUFFOLK, Virginia -- Twenty-four participant nations and organizations joined forces Feb. 1-5 to plan policy and military responses to wargame scenarios involving mock air and missile threats from fictitious countries 10 years in the future.

The NIMBLE TITAN 16 Wargame is the culmination of a two-year global integrated air and missile defense campaign of experimentation focused on regional and global challenges. Multinational participants jointly shape objectives, concept design, data collection and analysis.

As the NIMBLE TITAN Wargame began, the leader of the Joint Functional Component Command for Integrated Missile Defense, or JFCC IMD, U.S. Strategic Command's lead proponent for missile defense, emphasized the importance of the various nations and organizations coming together in joint cooperation.

"I am excited about what this event means for the future of missile defense around the world," said Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, JFCC IMD commander. "It is amazing to see how this exercise has really evolved over time.

"Why do we have this exercise and why are we so focused on missile defense?" Mann asked. "I think it is pretty clear; it's the nature of the threat, it's what we're challenged with. A lot of the threats we are faced with are not necessarily going after our strengths, they are going to go after our vulnerabilities. And quite frankly, it is more cost-effective to develop missile capabilities where you don't necessarily have to be close to a target but you can have a strategic effect on their capabilities."

Mann, as commander of JFCC IMD, is responsible for providing the USSTRATCOM commander with situational awareness of ballistic missile defense system development, integration activities and ballistic missile defense readiness.

"It is fair to say that no one nation can go it alone," Mann said. "It is very important that we work together to leverage what we all bring to the table to ensure that we are as effective and as efficient as we possibly can be in terms of addressing the threat. We need to understand that we will never have enough interceptors to address all of the threats that are out there. One of the things we are looking at is how can we address this threat in a collaborative, effective and holistic manner. We have to find new and creative ways of working together to solve common problems.

"The value of NIMBLE TITAN is that it helps us to get after, identify and discuss a lot of issues," he added. "It is very important that no participants hesitate to bring up whatever issues they have. The power of NIMBLE TITAN is that you can really talk about some of these vexing, complex problems and policy related issues."

USSTRATCOM is one of nine unified commands in the Department of Defense. USSTRATCOM's mission, through its JFCC IMD assets, includes ensuring missile defense assets are available to support military operations and ensuring resources are used efficiently and effectively to support the Warfighter.

The NIMBLE TITAN campaign director spoke about the purpose of the campaign and how it benefits all participants.

"The purpose of NIMBLE TITAN is to bring together multiple nations and international organizations from around the world who are all concerned about the global proliferation of missile capabilities and are interested in finding multinational and multi-regional approaches to deal with a shared challenge," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Joel Rousey, Allied Integration division chief, JFCC IMD, Plans and Policy USSTRATCOM. "One of the real benefits of NIMBLE TITAN is bringing in participants from all of these different nations. It is the only forum in the world, that we are aware of, that brings together not only military players, but policy and political level players from multiple nations and organizations to have strategic and policy discussions related to missile defense.

"Having an event, like our NIMBLE TITAN Wargame, is unique and extremely valuable because it provides an opportunity that would otherwise not be available for such wide-spread sharing of information and experience," he added.

NIMBLE TITAN has countries and organizations participating from around the globe. It has grown from eight in 2008 to 15 in 2012 to 26 in 2016.

Rousey explained how NIMBLE TITAN is a venue to try new ideas, see how countries with and without missile defenses today would try to pursue them, and how they would work with allies and partners, and why that is important.

"Almost every country in the world is threatened by ballistic or cruise missiles. The exploration of potential future policies occurring within NIMBLE TITAN will serve as a means to further protect people around the world better than they are currently, and will also strengthen the international relationships in order to save lives and potentially money," Rousey said, "because not one nation is trying to do everything on their own, but rather is willing to leverage the capabilities of friends and partners. Countries from Europe learning from countries from Asia, and vice versa, is an opportunity that would normally not be available at any other forum. Here within NIMBLE TITAN, we place countries from different regions in the world close enough to each other and provide opportunities for them to interact on both military and policy levels so they can have open and frank discussions about how to deal with the threat, as well as openly discuss ways in which they can work together better in the future.

"At NIMBLE TITAN, there are so many nations around the world that are willing to put aside differences, whether they be political, geographic or religious to come together to focus on a common concern," Rousey added. "The fact that this global community is willing to interact with each other and look for a common solution to a common problem is something that bodes very well for the safety of millions of people around the world."

As participants became active during the wargame, they spoke of the virtues of working together to defend each other if the need arises.

"It is a multi-dimension kind of event," said Minister Plenipotentiary Ahmed Al Kathairi, one participant representing the Middle East region. "For a nation like ours, it is important to understand the concerns of other nations regarding missile defense and to work together collectively as members of the international community to find solutions to the threats.

"It is very interesting to find so many people eager to work together and is very refreshing and comforting to know there are people eager to work with you to battle a common threat," he added. "We are looking forward to the results of this wargame and hopefully be better prepared for future campaigns."

Participants talked about NIMBLE TITAN and what their role is as they worked together during the event. They also spoke of how NIMBLE TITAN is beneficial to each nation and how they are focused not only on their own defense, but also the safety of their neighbors.

"NIMBLE TITAN is a unique forum," said David Walton, United Kingdom Missile Defence Centre. "It is a safe place to look at new ideas and talk to different nations in an environment where you have the freedom to experiment and try new things without being completely anchored to your present national position on ballistic missile defense. Here, we are not limited to our existing capabilities and we have the freedom to innovate and think about the future and what might be.

"What might be novel concepts now might not be in 10 years' time," he added. "You get the opportunity to disregard some things that are non-starters today. NIMBLE TITAN allows you to think about the relationships and agreements that might need to be in place to get the most out of any new capabilities we might be thinking of."

With cooperation being the key to NIMBLE TITAN, those playing a role in the wargame insisted that coming together is one of the best deterrents for would-be aggressors.

"Working with the different nations is excellent as always," Walton said. "What this environment brings is the opportunity to dedicate ourselves to engaging with a community of allies who possess a breadth of expertise, capabilities and perspectives on Integrated Air and Missile Defense. Every nation's threat perception is shaped by their own specific geography, and we have a lot to learn from nations who are a lot closer to known threats that they have to deal with day to day, and have developed the capability to do so.

"This is my third NIMBLE TITAN campaign and each time it just gets better," he added. "The enthusiasm from the different nations is superb. Each time we enter a new campaign there are more nations who want to be a part of it and the addition of every new participant brings fresh perspectives and new opportunities to learn from one another."

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