Belgium, Netherlands In Munitions Sharing Initiative

Dutch Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert and her Belgian counterpart, Steven Vandeput, signed a letter of intent to join the Danish-led project on the multinational procurement and management of precision-guided munitions (PGMs) for their F-16s in Brussels Oct. 6.

The project was launched by the Danish, Czech, Greek, Norwegian, Portuguese and Spanish defense ministers at NATO's September 2014 Wales summit under the alliance's Smart Defense initiative. It makes it possible to procure PGMs without going through the long U.S. approval process, will achieve economies of scale, and will facilitate the exchange of munitions among the signatory countries, helping alleviate shortages of certain types of these munitions, according to the Dutch Ministry of Defense.