South Korea's arms procurement agency has established its first formal procedure for domestic defense companies to obtain NATO standards, a move aimed at helping them compete for contracts and joint development projects in NATO markets.
The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) said Monday it has enacted guidelines governing how NATO standards are requested, provided and handled. The guidelines allow defense companies, research institutes and related government agencies to access NATO military specifications through DAPA, streamlining a procedure that had previously been handled by individual companies on a case-by-case basis.
Until now, exporters had no formal domestic channel for obtaining many of the standards and often had to seek help from local companies or government agencies in countries where they were pursuing business. The absence of a common legal channel or framework to support standardization has often led to administrative delays in defense exports to the NATO bloc.
Under the new system, standards that the Korean government can access directly through NATO's online database could be provided in as little as a week, a DAPA official said. Restricted standards that Korean government agencies can retrieve from NATO's database will be obtained by DAPA and passed on to applicants. For classified standards, DAPA will request authorization from NATO.
NATO standards set common requirements designed to ensure interoperability among allied weapons systems, ammunition and other military supplies. They cover areas ranging from protection requirements and testing procedures to communications protocols, logistics and security rules. Korean companies may be asked to show that their products meet relevant NATO standards when bidding for weapons programs in member countries or joining research and development with foreign governments or defense firms.
The guidelines are expected to serve as an institutional channel to help ensure strict compliance with NATO standards, not only equipment specifications but also security protocols, DAPA said.
"The enactment of these guidelines lays a solid foundation to provide our defense companies and organizations with necessary NATO standards in a more swift and systematic manner," DAPA Minister Kim Yong-cheol said in a release. "The move will substantially contribute to expanding our defense firms' entry into the NATO defense market, including arms exports and international joint research and development projects."
Demand for access to NATO standards has grown as South Korean defense exports to Europe have expanded since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and European countries have stepped up rearmament. South Korea has seen a surge in arms exports to NATO nations, including Poland and Romania, as European countries rush to replenish their military stockpiles.
The new guidelines set separate procedures depending on whether a standard is publicly available, restricted or classified. For standards requiring NATO approval, including classified material, the process will go through NATO's application and approval procedures.
DAPA expects easier access to NATO standards to help South Korean firms move beyond exports of complete weapon systems toward local production, joint development and parts supply. NATO standards are increasingly referenced outside the alliance, which could help Korean firms diversify export markets and products beyond Europe to regions such as Latin America.
South Korea has been working with NATO through dialogue channels, including a special security administrative arrangement signed in February and a high-level defense consultative meeting in May.