NATO’s military advantage has always depended on one thing: the ability to adapt faster than the threats it faces.
Force Lethality Enhancement (FLE) is one of many ways Allied Command Transformation (ACT) is helping the Alliance do exactly that – become more Lethal.
It starts with real capability needs and asks a practical question: How else could this military effect be delivered efficiently faster and with forces that can operate together across Allies?
To answer this, FLE uses a range of tools including wargaming, mission thread analysis, and modelling and simulation to stress test multiple and varied combinations of people, platforms, and emerging technologies against realistic operational problems.
Think of it as rapid exploration designed to identify feasible force-design options. You are putting different designs through controlled tests to see what holds up, what fails, and what needs to change to inform rapid capability development.
FLE’s first round focuses on six challenging areas that matter to NATO’s ability to deter and defend:
- armoured brigades
- land medical support
- anti-submarine warfare
- attack rotary wing
- combat reconnaissance
- combat engineering
These are not abstract; they are core contributions to the campaign and how forces will move, fight, survive, and sustain.
A tangible way to picture the Force Lethality Enhancement approach is to imagine a city fire department trying to improve how effectively it contains fires and protects lives and property. It is not enough to simply buy faster trucks. You also need to rethink dispatch procedures, communications, training, and how units coordinate across agencies. FLE applies that mindset to military capability. It tests novel solutions, then identifies alternative ways to achieve the same, or better, effects.
FLE is designed to do more than point to a promising option. It uncovers the practical conditions for adoption: the benefits and tradeoffs, the implications for interoperability, and the collaboration required for nations to develop and implement the options. It also captures what did not work and why, so Allies can avoid repeating mistakes.
In practice, that includes the non-technical work that often determines success: concept development, training, legal frameworks, and resilient command and control networks.
Force Lethality Enhancement also highlights cross cutting realities that can be understood immediately: forces have to operate in contested electromagnetic environments, they must be standardized enough to work together, industrial capacity has to keep pace with demand, and emerging capabilities must remain consistent with legal and ethical obligations.
So, what is the output? FLE identifies and tests multiple force design options, then shares those options with NATO nations for further development and implementation. These outputs are decision support products designed to help Allies prioritize resources, field capabilities faster, and remain interoperable from the start. While FLE is not producing fully fielded capabilities in itself, it is designed to identify and clarify promising pathways so nations can move from analysis to development and implementation with greater confidence.
Today, NATO ACT’s Force Lethality Enhancement is beyond a concept. It is a force in motion. Analysis and reporting have been completed and delivered to nations, and ACT is moving forward with “FLE Extended,” to begin in early 2026, addressing a broader portfolio of options.