Getting Started:

The FY13 Management Plan and the CWP FAQs explain what the Coalition Warfare Program is and how the program is conducted. Please make sure you read the FY13 Management Plan to understand OSD requirements and OSD and Service due dates. For the FY13-14 cycle, the due dates for nominations are as follows:

Mission:

The Director, International Cooperation provides direct support to the USD(AT&L) for all aspects of international cooperation. CWP is a defense-wide tool to assist the Combatant Commanders, Services, and DoD Agencies in integrating coalition-enabling and enhanced solutions into existing and planned U.S. programs. CWP provides competitively selected DoD projects with dedicated funds to conduct collaborative research and development with committed foreign government partners. The objectives of CWP are to:

Why the Coalition Warfare Program is needed:

Current U.S. military strategy and the global security environment make coalition warfare and multinational operations fundamental features of the U.S. national security strategy. Traditional U.S. military operations (from peacekeeping to major conflicts) almost always involve multinational coalitions. The DoD is also taking on more “soft power” roles, which includes an expanded role in humanitarian activities, requiring broader international, interagency, civilian and non-governmental coordination.

As a result of combat operations, U.S. Government and DoD strategy and policy all point to the criticality of early and continuous planning for more effective coalition operations. The Obama Administration has outlined a set of defense priorities that includes engaging our allies in meeting our common security challenges and organizing to help partners and allies in need. The emphasis on renewing our alliances is based on the White House’s priorities to transform and strengthen alliances--such as NATO--on common security concerns like Afghanistan, homeland security, and counterterrorism, as well as ensuring our allies contribute their fair share to mutual security.

The Coalition Warfare Program approach to project opportunities:

As a program, CWP is designed to cut across stovepipes to improve international cooperation and interoperability early in development programs that are expected to lead to fielded systems. CWP takes a multidimensional approach to fostering cooperative RDT&E projects that enhance interoperability between U.S. forces and coalition partners worldwide. The program focuses not only on short-term, interoperability-enhancing solutions, but also on early identification of coalition solutions to long-term interoperability issues (architectures, coalition requirements, major system acquisition) with a broad range of potential coalition partners.

CWP projects are selected for emphasis on warfighter solutions that offer combatant commanders the capabilities they demand. In addition, CWP considers candidate projects for their portability and fieldability in developing solutions that are applicable to multiple combatant commands and that will reach warfighters quickly.

To maximize the benefit to the US Government, CWP supports projects out of the DoD R&D community that leverage investments from other U.S. and partner nations to include financial contributions, man-hours, technology, and infrastructure. In maintaining this approach, CWP helps the Department reduce U.S. RDT&E costs by bringing on partners to share the burden, while engaging the appropriate U.S. organizations in cooperative development to respond to DoD and DoD-to-partner needs.