CONFIDENTIAL
CONFIDENTIAL
Substantial progress continued to be made during the year in
improving NATO's conventional forces in accordance with agreed
priorities, including the important fields of anti-armour and
low-level air defence. In December, Ministers agreed that the
guidance for future NATO defence planning, which they are due
to issue at their next meeting, should look well into the 1980s
and set objectives, within the framework of existing NATO
strategy, for co-operative efforts to obtain maximum efficiency
from the force levels and resources which the Alliance can
reasonably expect to have at its disposal. These co-operative
efforts include studies designed to achieve increased collabor-
ation and standardisation in the field of defence equipment,
greater rationalisation of defence tasks through new co-operative
arrangements (particularly in the training and support areas),
and improved flexibility in the use of NATO's forces.
The Nuclear Planning Group
12. As a permanent member, the United Kingdom has continued to play
a leading part in NATO's Nuclear Planning Group.
At the regular half-yearly meetings, NATO Ministers
Studies
of Defence have kept under review the balance of strategic nuclear
forces between the Soviet Union and the United States.
are continuing on the political and military implications of
possible defensive use of nuclear weapons by NATO.
EUROPEAN DEFENCE CO-OPERATION
13. The Government attaches particular importance to European
defence co-operation within the framework of the Alliance,
especially over the joint procurement of equipment, both in order to
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