Assistant Chief of Staff for Defence Planning at the NATO ACT Air Commodore Ralph Reefman visited NATO ENSEC COE

On the 26^th of April, the NATO ENSEC COE was pleased to welcome the official visit of Air Commodore Ralph Reefman, the Assistant Chief of Staff for Defence Planning at the NATO Allied Command Transformation. The Director, Colonel Gintaras Bagdonas, and the Heads of Divisions of NATO ENSEC COE hosted the event.

The main topics of discussion were the general responsibilities of the COE, undergoing projects and future plans. The guest was interested in various facets of energy security, from the interconnectedness of NATO Allies, to their security of supply and the implementation of critical energy infrastructure protection.

Furthermore two projects received a more detailed briefing. "Military Aspects on Energy Security" concept proposal was presented first. This concept is a NATO multi-organizational effort in order to drive the Alliance towards a common understanding on emerging challenges regarding the military aspects of energy security.

The second discussed project was the NATO Central European Pipeline System (CEPS) Cyber Risk Study. The emerging threats from cyberspace on the control and safety system technologies used in the energy sector were emphasised.

While in the Centre, the guest also had the chance to visit the NATO live-fire cyber defence exercise "Locked Shields 2018" that was taking place in the COE and was invited to take part in the Innovative Energy Solutions for Military Applications 2018 Conference and Exhibition (www.iesma.info) this November.

Finally the NATO ENSEC COE and Air Commodore Reefman both expressed interest in deepening the cooperation between the COE and the NATO ACT with existing and new projects being developed.