WELCOME TO ALLIED COMMAND TRANSFORMATION

NATO's Strategic Warfare Development Command

The Future Force Study will help design a future-ready force, not by listing units, but by defining the essential and transformational characteristics and attributes that a future force must have.

It blends foresight, wargaming, modelling and simulation to generate evidence-based force design options that inform NATO’s strategic planning and capability development through the NDPP.

FFS bridges the gap between long-term vision and actionable defence planning, moving NATO from foresight to warfight.

“With the Future Force Study, we work to give nations informed guidance on what the future of combat may be… we are here to tune the strategy imperatives with the tools that are needed to implement it.”

-Admiral Pierre Vandier
Supreme Allied Commander Transformation

Wargaming –> Modelling & Simulation –> Analysis Integration –> Force Design Options

  1. Methodology
    1. Research Design: The FFS research design combines qualitative and quantitative methods to translate future challenges into testable force characteristics and validated design options, ensuring a coherent evidence base for defence planning decisions.
    2. Methods Employed: FFS research design integrates foresight, wargaming, and modelling and simulation into a structured, evidence-based approach to generate and test force design options for NATO.
  2. Results
    1. Phase 1: Starting in 2024, the FFS identified Force Challenges in close collaboration with Allied Command Operations (ACO). FFS then translated those challenges into a set of future force characteristics – the qualities that the force needs in order to solve the operational problems that NATO anticipates.
    2. Phase 2: Phase 2 brought qualitative results on the down selection of the Force Characteristics by conducting two wargames.
    3. Phase 3: Phase 3  focuses on improving and testing possible future force configurations using modelling and simulation to identify which combinations deliver the greatest operational effect. It refines earlier findings into a shortlist of strategic transformation levers that can inform NATO force design and defence planning.
    4. Phase 4: Phase 4 integrates external inputs and additional analysis to refine and validate the most promising force design options.
  3. Force Design Options
    • This part will include the recommended set of capabilities and functions designed to improve campaign effectiveness.