Advancing UK Aerospace, Defence, Security & Space Solutions Worldwide

Features

65 years of NATO

Secretary of State Philip Hammond talks about the important role the UK has played at the heart of NATO.

This year we mark a number of significant military anniversaries: 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War, 70 years since the D-Day landings, 700 years since the Battle of Bannockburn, and 65 years since the founding of NATO.

Ever since its foundation in 1949, the United Kingdom has played a leading role at the heart of this transatlantic alliance and this year we will host its latest summit in Wales.

Advertisement
ODU RT

It is perhaps a little known fact that it was the British Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, who was instrumental in setting up NATO; he came up with the idea of a western alliance and then set about negotiating with countries across the globe. And Britain hosted the first meeting of NATO deputies in 1950.

In 1952, Winston Churchill’s military adviser, General Ismay, became the first ever Secretary General of NATO and as such helped to define the role. He was the first of three British secretaries general to lead NATO.

Above: Philip Hammond (left) with Tobias Ellwood MP, Parliamentary Adviser to the Prime Minister on the NATO Summit (right), at the NATO 65-year timeline photographic display at Portcullis House in London.
Picture: Petty Officer Airman (Photographer) Owen Cooban, Crown copyright

Britain hosted its first full NATO summit in 1990. Led by Margaret Thatcher, this was the first summit post the reunification of Germany and was a key moment in NATO’s history.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT

On operations, the UK has also played a key role in numerous NATO missions over the last 65 years: providing armed escorts for humanitarian aid convoys and leading the military offensive into Bosnia in the 1990s, as the second largest contributor to ISAF forces in Afghanistan, and sending RAF Typhoons to the NATO air policing mission over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania today.

All these events, and more, are captured in a new downloadable visual timeline on show at Portcullis House in London. This charts the changing history of NATO, illustrating how it has had to adapt to respond to new global threats and highlighting the UK’s significant involvement at the heart of the Alliance.

NATO is the cornerstone of our defence and as the UK looks forward to hosting the NATO Summit this year in Newport, Wales, this is an opportunity to remind ourselves of the UK’s central role within the Alliance for the last 65 years.

 

Advertisement
Cranfield University
Events target Strategic Defence Review ambitions

Features

Events target Strategic Defence Review ambitions

9 July 2025

Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Jon Pentreath CB, OBE, DSEI Senior Military Advisor, examines the role of international exhibitions in helping realise the aims of the UK's Strategic Defence Review.

Advancing digital rehearsal in defence

Features

Advancing digital rehearsal in defence

27 May 2025

Elspeth McIntyre, Technical Director at AtkinsRéalis, explores how digital rehearsal can help the defence sector rapidly scale and expedite procurement.

Safeguarding resilience at UK Airports

Features

Safeguarding resilience at UK Airports

21 May 2025

David Ferbrache, managing director of Beyond Blue and Matt Gordon-Smith, director of Resilience Insights, consider how UK airports can mirror the efforts of financial regulations to safeguard their operations through collaborative scenario testing.

Building trust in AI

Features

Building trust in AI

14 April 2025

Jeff Hoyle, Executive Vice President of Global Aero, Space and Defence & Managing Director UK and North America, Expleo, looks at how the UK AI sector can build public trust and learn from industries like aerospace and defence.

Advertisement
Gulfstream RT
How to win the technical talent battle

Features

How to win the technical talent battle

27 March 2025

Tom Rowe-Jones, Director at LAVA Advisory Partners, examines the fundementals that underpin strategies aimed at attracting and retaining technical engineering talent.

Going beyond lean

Features

Going beyond lean

18 March 2025

Andrew Brough, a director at management consultancy Vendigital and Isabelle Russell, an account manager at Siemens UK, look at advancement of digital technologies and training to develop an innovation mindset aimed at boosting productivity and profits.

Advertisement
Teledyne