CLS (contractor logistic support)

CLS stands for contractor logistic support. NATO's glossary of acronyms and abbreviations expands the term exactly this way and gives the French equivalent as soutien logistique fourni par le contractant, meaning logistical support provided by the contractor. The glossary entry is in AAP-15.

In NATO's Logistics Handbook, CLS is support delivered under a system-support contract. That contract covers the delivery, implementation and maintenance of weapons systems and equipment, and the support can run for part or all of the system's life cycle. The handbook is available from NATO.

How NATO separates CLS from general contractor support

NATO treats contractor support as a broad idea: commercial entities provide part of the support that a force needs when deployed. CLS is narrower. It concerns contracted support for weapons systems and equipment specifically, rather than the full range of deployed support that a commercial provider might offer.

CLS is a form of life-cycle support. The contractor does not simply sell a system and walk away. The contractor stays involved in keeping the system and its equipment working over the period the contract covers.

CLS inside system-support and in-service support contracts

NATO identifies system-support contracts as a common form of planned contracting. The Logistics Handbook states that a system-support contract can provide CLS as part of an arrangement to deliver, implement and maintain weapons systems and equipment.

The handbook also lists technical services that may include CLS. Those services cover:

• CLS itself
• setup and maintenance of weapons systems
• operation and maintenance of communications
• other specialized support

NATO Communications and Information Agency material identifies CLS contracts and performance-based logistics (PBL) contracts as forms of in-service support contracts. That places CLS in the phase after a system enters operation, when sustainment becomes the main task.

Terms commonly used alongside CLS

• Contractor support to operations (CSO): deployed operational support provided by commercial entities.
• Integrated logistic support (ILS): the life-cycle methodology used to make sure logistics-support requirements are built into system design, acquisition and operation.
• Performance-based logistics (PBL): a support-contract model that NATO names alongside CLS contracts.
• System-support contract: the contract form that may include CLS for some or all of a system's life cycle.

The NATO agency behind logistics and procurement support

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) is the Alliance's principal provider of integrated logistics and procurement support. It provides acquisition and logistics support to NATO, its Allies, partners and other international organizations. Its work includes acquiring, operating and maintaining weapons systems and providing logistics support services, which is the territory where CLS arrangements sit.

What CLS means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

The meaning of CLS is fixed by NATO usage: the contractor, not the buyer, supplies logistics support for a weapons system or equipment under a system-support contract. When a Canadian solicitation or a NATO-related opportunity uses the term, read the scope to see whether the support covers part or all of the life cycle, and whether the contract also uses PBL or other in-service support language. Treat the solicitation's own definitions and clauses as the authority for what your firm would be obliged to deliver. Bid teams should also keep the related terms above straight, since CLS, CSO and ILS describe different things and are not interchangeable.