NATO Summit Yields New Deals Worth at Least $50 Billion

New defense deals worth at least $50 billion (€43.7 billion) have been signed at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

This was reported by Euractiv, citing a NATO representative.

They provide for the creation of a new multinational strategic air transport fleet and plans to replace aging aircraft, air defense systems, and UAVs.

Specifically, the Swedish aerospace group Saab will build up to 10 GlobalEye early warning and surveillance aircraft to replace the aging fleet of Boeing E-3 Sentry AWACS planes. The agreement will cover Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Romania.

Previously, NATO allies announced that they were abandoning the use of Boeing E-7A reconnaissance aircraft after the U.S. Air Force canceled its own procurement of these Boeing planes.

NATO allies also committed to investing more than $40 billion (€35 billion) in counter-drone capabilities over the next five years and to increasing the number of trained drone operators fivefold by the end of 2027.

Nine allies will jointly work on developing a prototype of a universal NATO 155mm munition. The allies include Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden, and Turkey, with the total deal value amounting to $1.6 billion (€1.4 billion).

In addition, Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom launched a new multinational project to create a high-performance fleet of Airbus A400M military aircraft. The seven allies will jointly bear costs and pool aircraft capable of carrying strategic cargo.

Another deal provides for the expansion of the multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet — in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden, which Finland has now joined. Together, they announced the upcoming delivery of a tenth Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft, which serves a dual function (aerial refueling and transport).