NATO leaders began unveiling arms deals worth tens of billions of dollars in Turkey on Tuesday, driving home the message that they are heeding U.S. calls to spend more to defend Europe before a summit with President Donald Trump.
To upbeat tunes and slick videos at a defence industry forum in the capital Ankara, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced a series of initiatives, inviting a roll-call of representatives from NATO members to join the stage. The sum of various deal values was projected onto a screen.
“We can do more when we do it together. And we must do more of it,” Rutte said. “NATO allies are joining new multinational procurement coalitions. This really helps us get more of what you need across a range of capabilities.”
The deals, which had been mostly kept under wraps to make a splash at the summit, included European countries buying surveillance drones from U.S. company Northrop Grumman (NOC.N), opens new tab, and NATO buying planes from Sweden’s Saab (SAABb.ST).
The U.S. is also in talks with Germany and other nations about establishing joint production in Europe of missiles that are in high demand for the defence of Ukraine, a source told Reuters.
The move followed growing concern in Washington about the capacity of U.S. weapons manufacturers to meet demand, as both the war on Iran and the war in Ukraine depleted U.S. arms stocks.
Rutte also said NATO allies will invest more than $40 billion in the next five years in their anti-drone capabilities.