Title: No-capability defence acquisition: a literature review on policy and practice of military acquisition within NATO and the EU

Authors: Alexandre Verlaine

Addresses: Luxembourg Armed Forces, Etat-major de l'Armée, Boîte postale 166, 9202 Diekirch, Luxembourg and Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Doctoral School in Management and Organizational Sciences, Kaposvár University, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary

Abstract: Most research in defence centres on big NATO nations, while much less focus has been given to smaller NATO nations. The paper explores this issue. First, the author redefines the term 'small NATO nations' and introduces a new idea: 'no-capability NATO nation'. Then, the author conducts a systematic literature review on defence acquisition (DA). From 122 records, only five are found to relate to small NATO nations. Moreover, the identified literature is US-dominated and EU concerns prevail over NATO concerns. Finally, an in-depth analyses of the selected literature identifies four DA areas that need further attention: 1) the latest adaptations in the DA frameworks of the USA, the UK and Germany; 2) the similarities in DA difficulties between the US Special Operation Forces and small/no-capability NATO nations; 3) the different NATO procurement methods; 4) the importance of relative gains in DA collaboration between big and small/no-capability NATO nations.

Keywords: defence acquisition; small NATO nations; no-capability NATO nations.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPM.2023.132139

International Journal of Procurement Management, 2023 Vol.17 No.4, pp.443 - 487

Received: 15 Jul 2021
Accepted: 29 Dec 2021
Published online: 12 Jul 2023 *

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