ACO2 (airspace coordination order)

ACO2 is the NATO abbreviation for airspace coordination order. NATO's Glossary of NATO Acronyms and Abbreviations lists ACO2 with that expansion and gives the French equivalent, ordre de coordination aérienne.

An airspace coordination order is an operational product used to coordinate the use of airspace during military operations. NATO exercise documentation identifies it as an output developed before the air tasking order (ATO), which places it early in the air operations planning sequence.

How NATO defines ACO2

The NATO acronym glossary treats ACO2 as a distinct entry with a single meaning: airspace coordination order. The glossary is a reference list of acronyms and abbreviations used across the Alliance, so the entry tells a reader how the three characters should be read when they appear in NATO material.

The term belongs to air operations planning and air command and control. It is an operational term, not a contracting term, and it describes a product that air planners produce rather than a service or a commodity.

ACO2 versus ACO1: coordination and control

NATO's glossary lists two similar entries. ACO1 is the airspace control order. ACO2 is the airspace coordination order. They are separate entries, and the difference between the words coordination and control matters when reading a document that uses only the abbreviation.

• ACO2: airspace coordination order.
• ACO1: airspace control order.

Royal Canadian Air Force doctrine refers to the airspace control order by name among the products of its Combined Aerospace Operations Centre. A reader who sees "ACO" in Canadian doctrine should check which expansion the document intends.

Where the order sits in the air operations planning sequence

NATO exercise material places the airspace coordination order alongside the master air operations plan (MAOP) and ahead of the air task order (ATO). The exercise play functions book from NATO's Joint Warfare Centre identifies the order as developed before the ATO.

Canadian aerospace doctrine also describes the ACO and ATO as products that support the planning of air missions and tasks. The RCAF doctrine chapter on the Combined Aerospace Operations Centre states that the centre produces operational and tactical direction in the form of the air operations directive, airspace control order, air tasking order, special instructions and related products. It operates on behalf of the Joint Force Air Component Commander.

The commands that produce air operations products

NATO identifies Allied Air Command as responsible for planning and directing the air component of Alliance operations and missions. NATO also states that Combined Air Operations Centres plan, direct and coordinate NATO air activity.

Products such as the airspace coordination order come out of this command-and-control structure, in both NATO and Canadian practice.

What ACO2 means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

For a bid team, ACO2 is a vocabulary item. It is the name of an operational air planning product, and it will appear in NATO and RCAF air operations material rather than in general commercial language.

• Read ACO2 as airspace coordination order, and do not confuse it with ACO1, the airspace control order.
• When a solicitation, statement of work or exercise document uses ACO, confirm which expansion is intended from the document's own definitions.
• Keep the term's place in the planning sequence in mind: the airspace coordination order is developed before the air tasking order.

Use the definitions in each solicitation as the authority for what a supplier must deliver or support, and use NATO and RCAF terminology to read the operational context correctly.