Strategic Airlift & Sealift Planning (Operational Priorities)

About this report

The ability to rapidly deploy and sustain military forces over long distances has re-emerged as a decisive factor in NATO and EU defence planning. “Strategic Airlift & Sealift Planning” addresses the core problem of how to move large formations, heavy equipment, and critical supplies quickly to where they are needed, whether to reinforce an exposed ally or to respond to a crisis abroad.

In the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, allied leaders acknowledged that without swift and large-scale military mobility, deterrence and defence commitments could ring hollow .

Key questions this report answers

• Why has rapid strategic airlift and sealift re-emerged as decisive for NATO/EU deterrence and defence?
• How do force posture and command-and-control architectures enable rapid deployment of heavy formations?
• Which capability families and technology clusters (transport aircraft, sealift vessels) underpin military mobility?
• What structural bottlenecks and dependencies constrain allied strategic-transport capacity?

Inside this report

• Operational Rationale and Strategic Anchoring
• Mission Sets, Theatres, Domains and Scenarios
• Force Posture, Readiness Models and Command-and-Control Architecture
• Capability Families, Tactical Building Blocks and Performance Requirements
• Technology Clusters, Industrial Base, Value Chain and Structural Bottlenecks

Who it's for

Strategy, corporate-development and investment teams that need an ecosystem-level view — budgets, industrial capacity and technology landscapes — before committing capital or capacity.

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Methodology, format & delivery

DFM reports are built from primary and official sources — TED procurement notices, CORDIS and the EU Funding & Tenders Portal, EIB operations, the NATO Innovation Fund portfolio, SIPRI data, official budget documents and company disclosures — read together with the underlying legal texts. Sources are cited in the document; it reflects them as of its publication date (03 January 2026). You receive a 26-page PDF, watermarked to you on every page, delivered on the confirmation page and by e-mail immediately after checkout (personal link valid 72 hours, up to 5 downloads). Guest checkout, single-user licence — Terms of Sale.

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