TOPFAS ( Tool for Operational Planning , Force Activation and Simulation )

TOPFAS is the data and planning support system for the operational planning and force activation in accordance with the NATO Operational Planning Process. It will provide a common database and tools for the planning process as well as a common repository of the operational plans and the audit trail for the Force Generation Process. TOPFAS supports the planning process with graphical tools to the greatest possible extent; i.e. graphical lay-out of the operational design, phases and tasks, geographical mapping tools for the specification of operational planning factors and environmental conditions; and for the disposition of the forces. Troop-to-task rules, combined with military expertise, are the basis for the identification of force requirements. The present paper is a summary of the Symposium Presentation. Operational Planning in NATO In the first 40 years after the formation of NATO the military operational planning focused exclusively on a single overriding concern; – the potential need for the defense of NATO territory in Europe. The continuous refinement of the specific plans for this consumed the staff talents without the need for the development of explicit NATO versions of the general concepts and doctrine for the operational art and the procedures for the development of operational plans. NATO was a one-scenario alliance. With the end of the cold war and the emergence of the new European security environment and the expansion of the role of NATO to include force deployments and peace support operations outside NATO territories the need to establish NATO doctrine and planning procedures for such operations became a requirement. Operational planning in NATO can be conducted under a wide range of conditions, from routine exercises to immediate reaction to an attack on NATO territory. The main categories of planning situations are; 1) The response to an emerging crisis situation that NATO might become involved in, typically a peace support operation where NATO become involved as the result of a UN resolution/mandate and request for intervention; and 2) Prudent military planning for potential future operations that are not linked to any expressed threat or an actual crisis situation, but which nevertheless require advance planning to ensure NATO’s ability to respond should it be called upon to do so. The ultimate responsibility for initiating planning under any of these headings rests with NATO’s political leadership – the North Atlantic Council (NAC); although military commanders are, of course, expected to conduct prudent military planning within their terms of reference. In either case, the planning procedures that NATO has adopted are the same; although the urgency and time pressure will of course differ. The basic steps of the planning process are also the same for the different command levels of planning; the military strategic, the operational and the tactical/component levels. In NATO, the planning at all levels are typically conducted in parallel with close interactions throughout the command hierarchy. The basic military concepts used in the NATO Operational Planning Process (OPP) are the same or similar to those found in national military doctrines. However, certain key aspects of the planning process will be different for the obvious reasons that NATO is an alliance of 19 sovereign nations and that military forces only become available to the NATO commanders through the contributions from the nations in the force generation and activation process. The basic planning stages and products of the OPP are illustrated in Figure 1. It can be seen that explicit directives from the political level are required at three critical junctures: 1) Initiation of the planning process through the Initiating Directive (ID); 2) Authorization to proceed to the force generation process with the nations through the Force Activation Directive (FAD); and 3) Authorization to commence the execution of the operation through the Execution Directive (ED). Planning may, of course, stop at any point in the process when the appropriate planning product for the situation at hand has been produced.