Operation Active Endeavour

Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) is part of NATO’s multi-faceted response to the terrorist threat. Its mission is to conduct maritime operations in the assigned area of operations to demonstrate NATO's resolve to help deter, defend, disrupt and protect against terrorism. As the Alliance has refined its counter-terrorism role in the intervening years, the operation’s mandate has been regularly reviewed and its remit extended. OAE’s achievements through targeted maritime operations are highly impressive and constitute a significant deterrent to terrorist activity in the Mediterranean Sea. The Operation not only demonstrates NATO’s resolve but is also a vivid example of the added, essential value that NATO can bring to the complex, global fight against terrorism. The contribution/collaboration/co-operation with partners and Mediterranean Dialogue countries substantially improves the overall effectiveness of OAE.

Concept Non-NATO contributions Background Situational Awareness Chronology

Video Clips	In the course of the past years OAE has evolved from a small-scale deployment providing a modest military presence in an important stretch of sea into a comprehensive, continuously adapting, counter terrorism operation throughout the Mediterranean. Following the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States, NATO agreed to implement eight specific measures to contribute to the campaign against terrorism. These measures included the deployment of elements of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces to the eastern Mediterranean in order to provide a deterrent presence and surveillance capability. NATO’s Maritime Commander in Naples (COM MC Naples) was authorised to conduct Operation Active Endeavour (OAE) in order to demonstrate NATO’s resolve against terrorism.	Keeping the Med safe - how it's done

Prolonged or surge operations are achieved through rotation of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces. To enable sustainability, the operation uses facilities and assets made available by member states in the region.

Initially a purely NATO operation, OAE now involves non-NATO nations which have formally agreed to support the effort with information exchange and/or the provision of ships. Additionally, more than 50 countries provide information for an information sharing network – Maritime Safety and Security Information System. HQ MC Naples HQ maintains a comprehensive maritime picture within the Mediterranean and its approaches. Over 100.000 merchant ships have been contacted so far and 160 boarded at sea, while 488 vessels were escorted through the Strait of Gibraltar (up to May 2004, when escorting was suspended due to reduced threat levels).

Analysis has shown that OAE has and continues to make a difference in deterring terrorism and related activities in the Mediterranean. In the course of our anti-terrorist activities, we have also detected and reported suspicious activity to appropriate law enforcement agencies. Examples of these reports are:

- Drug trafficking,
- Explosive movements,
- Large numbers of irregular immigrants,
- Several ships behaving suspiciously (some of which   subsequently impounded)

CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS

OAE was initially designed as an operation relying on ships, aircraft and submarines, using the two Standing NATO Maritime Groups in rotation. These Forces conduct presence and surveillance activities including the hailing and compliant boardings of selected vessels. The current modus operandi for OAE is to gather and process information and intelligence to be aware of all the traffic in the entire Mediterranean Sea with a selective focus on particular Contacts of Interest.

Building on the experience achieved over the years, the operation is becoming network-based and no longer relies on permanently assigned units. However, it continues to conduct ‘surge’ operations and remains prepared to carry out at-sea inspections. New technologies, exploitation of developments in surveillance and information sharing capabilities, closer cooperation and information sharing with Mediterranean Dialogue (MD)' and Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries have enabled a start to the transition from platform-based to network- based operation. A combination of surge operations and standby units will replace permanently deployed forces. Information exchange between NATO and non-NATO contributing nations, Law Enforcement Agencies, International Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations will be enhanced.

Surge operations, standby units, flying assets, other NATO contributions (e.g. ships transiting through the OAE Area of Operations - AOO), and non-NATO contributions will be used to fulfil the OAE Lines of Operation: Deter, Find and Protect.:

• DETER: A deterrent presence will be maintained by resources able to patrol, monitor, hail and board vessels in the AOO.  NATO Standing Groups will contribute to this role. Non-predictable ‘Surge’ operations will be conducted with use of a wide array of assets, to foster deterrence while conducting intensive surveillance in specific areas. Efforts will be made to maintain high visibility of the operation within the mariners community.
• FIND: OAE will maintain and improve the ability to locate and track designated contacts of interest and to detect suspicious behaviour within the AOO maritime environment. The existing Maritme Safety and Security Information System (MSSIS) constitutes the backbone of a complex system that relies upon the voluntary contribution of data from a variety of sources.  Aircraft of various kinds, to include Maritime Patrol Aircraft, Airborne Early Warning, transport, commercial (specifically contracted or in agreement with commercial carriers) and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) may be employed to augment the information network.
• PROTECT: A reaction capability is available to OAE through NATO Standing Forces and standby units, either in port or at sea in the AOO, offered by NATO nations. To augment these forces, nations may be invited to make additional National Contributions to the operation with ships, submarines, Maritime Patrol Aircraft and other available means.

In the Straits of Gibraltar NATO continues to be prepared to escort allied non-combatant shipping through this maritime choke point as a means of providing protection against terrorist attacks. This specific task of the OAE is threat dependent.

The tactical effectiveness of the operation is founded on three main pillars:

- awareness of the maritime environment in order to detect terrorist or suspicious activity;
- the ability to perceive or distinguish suspicious activity from the extremely high volume of legitimate   maritime activity; and
- the ability to take action based on the information in a timely manner.

OAE has made significant progress in all three categories; through the continued development of MSSIS we enjoy a maritime picture that was not considered possible a few years ago; through experimental software capable of detecting anomalous and suspicious behaviour and experience gained by the Data Gathering Operators, our ability to analyse potential discrepancies has increased significantly. We continue to review the Operation to ensure that it evolves appropriately making full use of developments in other fields.

NATO offers mariners the opportunity to help in its efforts by providing toll-free telephone numbers: +800 1101 2010 or +44 (0)1923 956574 and more information is available at http://www.shipping.nato.int/ .

INVOLVEMENT OF NON-NATO NATIONS

A significant additional benefit enabled partly by OAE is the increasing cooperation from several non-NATO countries. NATO thereby gathers wider information, increasing effectiveness and reducing the terrorist capability of manoeuvre inside the Mediterranean and STROG. The participation and liaison with other NATO and non-NATO governments and agencies have acted as catalysts for greater regional engagement and have encouraged nations and organisations not normally associated with NATO to form closer ties with the Alliance.

The Russian Federation demonstrated its interest in the operation in 2004. In September 2006, RFS Pitliviy – and subsequently the RFS Ladniy - joined OAE after a brief period of Force Integration Training at sea. The operation has attracted significant interest from Russia as demonstrated by the request for NATO’s Maritime Commander in Naples to brief the Russia General Staff in Moscow in October 2007 and in April 2008.

An Exchange of Letters (EOL) between NATO and Ukraine, in support of OAE, was signed in April 2005. In May 2007, Force Integration Training started, which was followed by the participation of the Ukrainian warship Ternopil in OAE. Two Ukrainian ships - URS Lutsk and URS Hetman Sagaidachniy - have subsequently participated in the operation. As of now, ships from Ukraine have been deployed five times within OAE.

Similarly, Israel signed an EOL on 4 October 2006, followed on 6 June 2007 by a Tactical Memorandum of Understanding (TMOU) between MC Naples and the Israeli Navy. An Israeli Liaison Officer was assigned to HQ MC Naples on 29 January 2008.

Other Mediterranean Dialogue countries expressed interest in collaborating in OAE. An EOL with Morocco was completed on 2 June 2008. It was followed, on 22 October 2009, by a Tactical Memorandum of Understanding defining the modalities of Morocco’s participation in the operation.

An EOL with Georgia was completed on 26 March 2008. The related TMOU was signed on 28 April 2010.

Not all Mediterranean littoral nations are part of NATO’s Partnership for Peace or Mediterranean Dialogue Programmes. But all of them have agreed on an international intolerance of terrorist activity. NATO is gradually developing links with these countries to assist in the fight against terrorism. National interest in OAE is increasing significantly and it is worth noting that, not only Mediterranean and Black Sea Countries have signalled their interest, but also Countries from the northern hemisphere are considering their options. New supporting nations will improve the overall effectiveness of OAE. The extent of the contribution will be tailored according the specifics of the country concerned and optimized on the basis of the offers received and the needs of the operation

Relations also continue to be developed with other Operational level maritime HQs in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters in order to improve our mutual awareness in those areas. We regularly exchange information with Black Sea Nations to ensure we are aware of shipping coming into the Mediterranean. The Turkish Navy leads Black Sea Harmony patrolling operation.

MARITIME SITUATIONAL AWARENESS (MSA)

The Maritime Safety and Security Information System (MSSIS) was borne from a need to achieve greater awareness of maritime activity and has grown to become an invaluable information tool. A network of national collection sites linked to central servers which then disseminate data to participating users has reached unparalleled success providing greater maritime security to all contributing nations. This has enhanced the ability of each contributor to protect the maritime security of its territorial seas and ports and has greatly improved the effectiveness of cooperative maritime security engagements.

The MSSIS network has “global attention” withinterest being shown from as far afield as Australia and Japan . MC Naples has made significant progress in expanding and formalising the information-sharing network through MSSIS and currently more than fifty nations are sharing maritime data in a non-classified framework, delivering a maritime picture. This increased knowledge of the environment has resulted in better use of the forces at sea and an improvement in the ability to detect anomalous or suspicious behaviour through experience. 

Experimental software, ‘BRITE’ (Baseline for Rapid, Iterative and Transformational Experimentation, developed by NATO) and ‘FASTC2AP’ (Fast Connectivity for Coalitions and Agents Program, developed by the US Navy) have been instrumental in highlighting discrepancies to the operators.

Thanks to the new technology, MC Naples HQ has improved its ability to locate Contacts of Interest. This greatly improves situational awareness, provides significantly more reliable data to perform traffic analysis, and provides a much more efficient allocation of surveillance and intelligence collection assets. OAE is yielding tremendous benefit by the implementation of MSA and is also acting as a test bed for other developments in this field.

WAY-AHEAD.

OAE has made continued progress towards the Military ‘End-State’ where the threat of maritime terrorism is limited to a level that can be dealt with by the forces of nations in the framework of their normal activities assigned forces. There is no comparison between the ‘maritime awareness’ acquired in the Mediterranean due to Active Endeavour and the situation in 2001: NATO has established an information collection end exchange mechanism, surveillance procedures and a data-base of past maritime traffic that puts us in a position not only to be aware of what moves on the sea lanes but also to timely assess any indicator of improper behaviour. Although we have made significant progress to date, we still have much work ahead in order to consolidate the tangible results achieved.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

On 12 September 2001 NATO implemented Article 5 of the Washington Treaty following the 11 September attacks against the United States. Following US requests, NATO subsequently agreed to implement eight specific measures to expand the options available in the campaign against terrorism. These measures included the deployment of elements of NATO’s Standing Naval Forces to the Eastern Mediterranean in order to provide a NATO presence and demonstrate resolve.

The NATO Operation Active Endeavour formally began on 26 October 2001, when the activation order was issued. However, patrolling in the Eastern Mediterranean had already started on 6 October, when the Standing Naval Force Mediterranean was dispatched to conduct maritime presence operations in support of the international campaign against terrorism.

The mission assigned to Operation Active Endeavour was to conduct naval operations in the Mediterranean to actively demonstrate NATO's resolve and solidarity. Operation Active Endeavour was one of the measures resulting from NATO's decision to implement Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, expanding the options available in the campaign against terrorism.

For the first time in NATO's history, Alliance assets were deployed in support of Article 5 operations. NATO contributed Airborne Warning and Control Systems aircraft (AWACS) to the United States and also deployed elements of its Standing Naval Forces to the Eastern Mediterranean. AWACS provided air surveillance and early warning capability by transmitting data to command and control centres on land, sea or in the air. The Standing Naval Force Mediterranean (STANAVFORMED), which was participating in Exercise Destined Glory 2001 off the southern coast of Spain, was re-assigned in order to provide an immediate NATO military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Operation Active Endeavour initially comprised the nine ships of the Standing Naval Forces Mediterranean (SNFM), which -- as well as STANAVFORLANT -- was part of NATO’s Immediate Reaction Forces (IRFs). The IRFs primary mission is to deploy rapidly to areas of tension and crisis. By definition as an IRF, the operational forces are trained to conduct a wide-range of maritime operations. These capabilities are regularly tested in exercises. STANAVFORMED and STANAVFORLANT were renamed SNMG2 and SNMG1 on 1 January 2005. These forces continue to regularly contribute to the operation.

During the first two months of deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean, STANAVFORMED established contact with about 1,700 merchant vessels and conducted 32 replenishments at sea to allow continuous maritime operations in the area. Ship-borne helicopters flew more than 1,000 hours.

“As the world is united against terrorism,” said COMNAVSOUTH during a news conference on 6 December 2001, “NATO continues to demonstrate the strength of its resolve and the solidarity of its member nations by conducting Operation Active Endeavour. The versatility and value of maritime immediate reaction forces is once more being highlighted.”

On 4 February 2003, the North Atlantic Council decided to extend Operation Active Endeavour to include escorting non-military ships travelling through the Strait of Gibraltar to maintain security in the area and to secure the safe transit of designated Allied ships. The narrow Strait of Gibraltar is widely recognised as a potential site of terrorist attacks, and so the measure was agreed as a precaution. The first NATO escort was conducted on 10 March 2003, by units of Standing Naval Force Atlantic, supported by US and Portuguese Maritime Patrol Aircraft and Spanish helicopters. Subsequently the Strait of Gibraltar operations have been led by the Spanish and have comprised Spanish frigates, Danish, Norwegian and German Patrol Boats and aircraft from Spain, Portugal and the US. Since these operations began, 488 vessels have been escorted (as of May 2004, when escorting was suspended).

The surveillance operation utilises ship, aircraft and submarine assets as well as an information sharing network that involves also a number of non-NATO nations, to build a picture of maritime activity in the Area of Operations.

On 29 April 2003, Task Force Endeavour began boarding operations following a NAC decision to enhance the effectiveness of the current naval operations against suspected terrorist activities in the Mediterranean. The boarding operations are conducted in accordance with the rules of international law and are of a compliant nature.

On 16 March 2004, NATO announced that the Area of Operations of operation Active Endeavour was extended to the whole Mediterranean and that EAPC/PfP Partners, Mediterranean Dialogue countries and other selected nations will be asked to support it, including through their active participation.

At the NATO Summit in Istanbul, on 28 June 2004, the Alliance decided to enhance Operation Active Endeavour, including through the contributory support of partner countries, including the Mediterranean Dialogue countries. All such offers of support, including by other interested countries, will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Operation Active Endeavour eventually became more information and intelligence-based by sharing information gathered at sea with allies and partners, to enhance their security.

CHRONOLOGY OF MAJOR EVENTS