NATO is a defense alliance of over 30 European and American countries that serves to protect their respective countries and pursues the goal of global political security. The abbreviation NATO stands for North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
NATO was founded shortly after the Second World War on April 4, 1949, when NATO members included the USA, the United Kingdom, Portugal, the Netherlands, Canada, Italy and France. The Federal Republic of Germany was admitted in 1955, before many other countries from the former Eastern Bloc were allowed to call themselves NATO members after the end of the Cold War. Several countries are also candidates for membership: Finland and Sweden, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Georgia and Ukraine would like to be NATO members in the future.
NATO: Importance for the military
NATO is of great importance for military development. In order to maintain a certain standard within the member states, NATO has established the so-called Standardization Agreement (STANAG). This agreement defines numerous standards, for example for ammunition, data transmission and protection levels in various situations from NBC reconnaissance to mobile base stations. NATO is correspondingly important for the construction of special military vehicles. Standards such as STANAG 4569 specify exactly what measures must be taken for ballistic protection. Nevertheless, NATO is regarded as a purely defensive alliance whose members help each other in the event of attacks without invading another country.
