NATO on Tuesday showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars in an attempt to convince President Donald Trump that US allies are converting fresh defense spending into real firepower.
“It’s money well spent,” an energized NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told government ministers and defense industry officials on the sidelines of a summit in Türkiye. He was speaking at a defense industry forum billed as NATO’s “big reveal,” to the thrum of techno music and a slick video display.
Trump, who is slated to arrive in Ankara later Tuesday, has branded NATO a “paper tiger” that would cease to function without American arms and leadership.
NATO as an organization does not own any weapons — these are the property of the 32 member countries — but it does have a fleet of 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with some newer surveillance drones.
A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will be supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced.
“It’s a moment of great pride,” he said, noting that the twin-engine aircraft would be “made within the alliance for all the alliance.”
Some of the projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.
“We need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,” Rutte said.
Representatives from 15 nations shook hands and patted shoulders on a vast podium under the NATO logo as they announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus.
Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO’s small fleet.
“It is genuinely made in NATO, and creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said.
Rutte told reporters on the eve of the military alliance’s two-day summit in Türkiye that “we will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will provide the crucial kit we need to deter and defend.”
However, at Tuesday's event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed.
The defense industry splash comes a few weeks after Rutte tried to ease US concerns about military spending at NATO with a new pitch using a chart labeled the “The Trump Trillion” — showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies and Canada since 2017.
Far from being impressed, Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still disappointed at some NATO allies’ refusal to join the Iran war, which he had launched alongside Israel without consulting them.
“We don’t need their money — we don’t need anything,” Trump said. “I just want loyalty.”
Seeking a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO
The focus of the summit is a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO. The Trump administration has warned the allies that they must handle Europe’s security alone as the United States focuses on China and the Indo-Pacific region.
The Pentagon wants a reboot and is promoting what it calls “NATO 3.0,” a vision of the alliance in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own defense, freeing the US to concentrate on other priorities.
But hiking defense spending means increasing taxes or diverting resources from other priorities. UK Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit last month, saying the British government was not willing to spend at a time of rising threats.
Concern is mounting among some northern and central eastern countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack — a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks — on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.
Keir Starmer’s office said the British leader will be “focused on building a stronger and more European NATO” on what is likely to be his last foreign trip as prime minister.
Starmer, who announced his resignation June 22, has faced criticism from military leaders, opposition politicians and some in his center-left party for the slow rate of increase in UK military spending.
His government has committed to reach the NATO budget target of spending 3.5% of gross domestic product on defense by 2035 but does not have a concrete plan to get there. Its current spending plan will see that spending hit 2.7% of GDP by 2029.
