NAMEADSMA (NATO Medium Extended Air Defence System Design and Development, Production and Logistics Management Agency)

NAMEADSMA stands for the NATO Medium Extended Air Defence System Design and Development, Production and Logistics Management Agency. It was the agency responsible for the planning, execution and overall management of the Medium Extended Air Defence System (MEADS) programme, including the design, development, production and logistics work behind it. NATO's audit records describe this role directly (NATO financial audit, 2014).

NAMEADSMA is a NATO programme agency. It is not a Canadian federal or provincial department. The term appears in NATO financial audits and annual reports, and Canadian suppliers are most likely to meet it as background in defence, air defence or NATO programme research.

What NAMEADSMA managed: the MEADS programme

MEADS is a tactical, mobile and transportable air- and missile-defence system. NATO describes it as capable of countering threats such as cruise missiles and tactical ballistic missiles (NATO IBAN annual report, 2008). NAMEADSMA was the management body for that programme. Its remit ran across the full life of the work: design and development, then production and logistics.

Where NAMEADSMA sat inside NAMEADSMO

NAMEADSMA operated within NAMEADSMO, the NATO Medium Extended Air Defence System Management Organisation. NATO describes NAMEADSMO as a NATO Development, Production and Logistics Organisation, created by the North Atlantic Council (NATO financial audit, 2014). The organisation was the formal NATO structure. The agency was the part that carried out the programme management.

Participating nations and location

NATO identifies three participating nations in the MEADS programme: Germany, Italy and the United States (NATO financial audit document PO(2022)0125). Canada is not among them.

NATO records place NAMEADSMA in Huntsville, Alabama, in the United States. This appears both in NATO's list of body locations (NATO body locations) and in its 2008 annual report.

Names and status in NATO records

Two forms of the name appear in NATO material. Audit and annual-report records use the full title with "Design and Development, Production and Logistics". NATO's current body-location listing uses the shorter NATO Medium Extended Air Defence System Management Agency. Both refer to the same agency, so a search for either form should be treated as a search for NAMEADSMA.

The status in older programme records is no longer the full picture. NATO's 2024 public-disclosure material refers to the organisation as being in liquidation (NATO IBAN annual report, 2024). Anyone reading older documents should check them against that later status.

What it means for a supplier bidding on Canadian public contracts

NAMEADSMA is a NATO agency serving Germany, Italy and the United States. It is not a Canadian contracting authority, and it is not a Canadian programme office. A Canadian bid team does not register with NAMEADSMA to respond to a federal or provincial tender.

• Treat the term as reference material about the MEADS programme and its NATO management structure.
• If a Canadian solicitation mentions it, follow the requirements written in that solicitation and its contract documents.
• Use the NATO sources linked on this page to confirm names, locations and status before citing the agency in a proposal.