The NATO Support and Procurement Agency on Tuesday received the first of three shipments of precision guided munitions planned for 2020, the alliance announced.

The U.S.-produced PGMs are worth more than $44 million and are arriving three to 12 months ahead of schedule, according to NATO.

The acquisition took place through a multinational High Visibility Project launched in 2014 at the Wales Summit.

The initiative is designed so participants can acquire air-to-ground PGMs in a cost-effective way, and according to NATO, participating countries have lowered their acquisition costs by 15 to 20 percent.

"This effort has set the standard across our portfolio of multinational High Visibility Projects," said Camille Grand, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Defense Investment. "Having successfully added a wealth of new benefits and features, it has built a compelling and attractive case for Allies and partner nations to take full advantage of all it can offer."

According to NATO, participants have increased their orders through the project, with the most recent order being worth more than double the first multinational order in August 2018.

The project is also designed to increase interoperability -- that is, to ensure all NATO members can use each other's weapons.

Precision-guided munitions include a broad array of bombs, missiles, artillery and other systems that can use GPS, laser guidance, radio frequency, radar and other methods to help ensure an accurate strike against both stationary and moving targets.

The number of different munitions and components through the project has also expanded.

NATO also has programs, begun in July 2018, to allow joint purchases of land and maritime munitions.

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