Combat Logistics in the 21st Century: Enabling the Mobility, Endurance, and Sustainment of NATO Land Forces in a Future Major Conflict

This chapter reinforces the ongoing importance of combat logistics in NATO, discusses both new and old challenges as the Alliance prepares for Large Scale Combat Operations, and comments on potential effects on combat logistics of emerging, disruptive technologies. The chapter first sets the scene by outlining the character and scope of combat logistics and placing it within the context of conflict between NATO and a peer-near peer adversary. Critical theatre-wide challenges facing NATO, particularly in sustainment and mobility are then highlighted, before the chapter focuses on the so-called ‘last tactical mile’, which is a metaphor for the operational area in closest proximity to the encountered threat. Finally, the chapter concludes with a summary and brief notes on how deficiencies may be addressed through technology.