CLD (Communications and Information Systems Logistics Depot)

CLD stands for Communications and Information Systems Logistics Depot. It is a NATO military abbreviation, listed in the NATO glossary of acronyms and abbreviations, AAP-15, which gives the French equivalent as dépôt logistique des systèmes d'information et de communication.

NATO documentation also uses the shorter form CIS Logistics Depot and identifies a CLD located in Brunssum, Netherlands. The term belongs to NATO's own vocabulary. Canadian suppliers are most likely to meet it in NATO-related material, not in domestic federal solicitations.

The full expansion and its French equivalent

The NATO glossary of acronyms and abbreviations, AAP-15, expands CLD as Communications and Information Systems Logistics Depot. Because NATO works in English and French, the glossary pairs each entry with a French rendering. For CLD, that rendering is dépôt logistique des systèmes d'information et de communication.

Bid teams reading bilingual NATO documents should treat the English and French forms as the same term. A reference to the French form refers to the same depot concept as CLD.

How CLD relates to the CIS abbreviation

NATO documentation uses CIS for Communications Information Services, and in the same document uses CLD for CIS Logistics Depot. The shorter expansion is therefore a direct variant of the full name, with CIS standing in for the longer phrase about communications and information systems.

When you see CIS Logistics Depot in a NATO source, read it as the same entity named by CLD. Check which expansion a given document uses before you quote it in a proposal.

The Brunssum location

The NATO document that uses the CLD abbreviation, a 2013 financial audit document for Allied Command Operations, identifies the CLD as located in Brunssum, Netherlands. That ties the term to a specific place within NATO's structure, not only to a general function.

The same source is the one that lists CIS and CLD together, so it is a useful reference for anyone who needs to confirm how NATO itself uses the abbreviation.

Where NATO defines its terminology

NATO maintains NATOTerm as its official terminology database, run by NATO's Terminology Office. It contains non-classified military and NATO-relevant non-military terminology. Suppliers who need to confirm a NATO term, or its French equivalent, should check NATOTerm and the AAP-15 glossary before using it in a bid document.

What CLD means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

CLD is a NATO term, and it does not by itself create a Canadian buyer, a solicitation type or a supplier obligation. What matters for Canadian businesses is access to NATO work. CanadaBuys states that NATO Support and Procurement Agency opportunities are available to Canadian businesses, and that qualifying NSPA solicitations are published through the platform. Details on how to find them are on the CanadaBuys page on searching tender opportunities.

• If CLD appears in a NATO or NSPA document, read it as Communications and Information Systems Logistics Depot, or CIS Logistics Depot.
• Confirm the expansion in the solicitation itself, since NATO documents also use CIS and CLD together.
• Use NATOTerm and AAP-15 to check English and French wording in bilingual submissions.
• Monitor CanadaBuys for qualifying NSPA solicitations.