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Aug 21 2020

NSPA equips Norway and Finland with CBRN air purifying respirators

UPDATE (January 2021): In addition to Norway and Finland, The Netherlands and Belgium have also made use of the contract, strengthening their CBRN capabilities.

Luxembourg, 21 August 2020 – The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has signed a supply contract to provide NATO Nations and Partners with full Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) mask capabilities for the next ten years.

The contract, awarded to Avon Protection as a result of an international competitive bidding, includes the latest generation of Military Off-The-Shelf (MOTS) CBRN Air Purifying Respirators (including PAPR's, spare parts, filters and accessories). The new masks will replace the current CBRN mask capability for the Finnish Defence Forces and Norwegian Armed Forces, enabling the nations to counter the multiple CBRN threats encountered in modern warfare, anti-terrorist and peacekeeping operations.

NSPA was tasked to manage the acquisition process by the Nordic Defence Cooperation, NORDEFCO. The contract, available on the NATO Logistics Stock Exchange (NLSE), was established with the support of the Finnish Defence Forces Logistics Command (FDFLOGCOM) and the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA) as 'Lead Nations'.

The NLSE is a cooperative logistics tool developed by NSPA to foster multinational cooperation and assist nations and suppliers with item acquisition and management. The COMMIT Support Partnership Committee (CPC) that governs the NLSE, was established in 1999 and currently consists of 21 NATO and four NATO partner nations, who benefit from logistics advantages and economies of scales.

Finland and Norway, both members of the COMMIT Support Partnership, developed the specifications and provided national expertise during the acquisition process. Comprehensive troop trials and laboratory testing were performed in both countries as part of a comprehensive technical evaluation process.

In addition to Finland and Norway, other 12 COMMIT nations have shown interest in the contract.