NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is a military alliance that includes the United States, Canada, and the vast majority of European countries (excluding Switzerland, Austria, Ireland, Sweden, Finland, and several Balkan and East European states). It was created in 1949 as a response to the threat of the Soviet Union invading Europe after World War II.

NATO's forces are portrayed in ShackTac as part of BLUFOR, a Side characterized by its military-grade American- or European-made weapons and vehicles. ShackTac missions feature many different NATO-member armies, though most BLUFOR missions feature only the American military forces. Operations including multiple members of NATO working together are quite rare, but do exist. BLUFOR and NATO are not interchangeable terms; Some non-NATO members may count as BLUFOR, particularly if they are West-aligned forces fighting against OPFOR.

NATO vehicles (and to some extent their weapons) tend to be designed with better offensive and defensive technology, as opposed to Soviet quantity over quality. NATO vehicle and weapon models are quite varied, as each member nation may either use American weapons, home-built weapons, or weapons purchased from non-NATO members. The Germans and British in particular both have plenty of unique weapon and vehicle models of their own. Nevertheless, all NATO forces use 5.56mm and 7.62mm Small Arms bullets as their standard ammunition, and many vehicle roles only have American models available which are used by all NATO forces.