NATO announces $40bn anti-drone investment and new aircraft fleets at Ankara summit amid Trump tensions
At the Ankara summit, NATO allies announced a $40 billion anti-drone initiative and new surveillance and transport aircraft, while facing pressure from Donald Trump to boost spending and support his Iran campaign.
Defence spending surge
European NATO allies and Canada have increased defence spending to around 4% of GDP, up from less than 2% a few years ago, Secretary General Mark Rutte said ahead of the Ankara summit. The alliance aims to reach 5% by 2035, and Rutte expects member states to present "clear, concrete and credible" plans during the two-day meeting. He noted that the additional investment by European allies and Canada totals $258 billion across 2025 and 2026.
It is not sustainable to ask a country of 350 million people, an eight-hour flight away, to defend 600 million people living in this part of NATO territory, the richest in the world.
New capabilities unveiled
At the Defence Industrial Forum on Tuesday, allies announced a $40 billion initiative called NATO Drone Edge to detect, identify and neutralise drones over the next five years. The package also includes the selection of Sweden's Saab to renew the alliance's airborne early warning and control fleet, a multinational Airbus A400M transport aircraft project involving Spain, Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland and the UK, and the acquisition of surveillance drones from US firm Northrop Grumman.
Today we launch the NATO Drone Edge initiative. To improve drone capabilities over the next five years, allies will invest more than $40 billion.
- Rutte says European allies and Canada now spend ~4% of GDP on defence, expects 5% plans.
- Defence Industrial Forum: NATO Drone Edge ($40bn anti-drone) and aircraft contracts unveiled.
- Trump arrives, meets Zelenski; Zelenski requests more Patriot systems.
- Summit continues; allies expected to confirm €140bn Ukraine aid package.
Trump factor and alliance unity
The summit is choreographed to project unity and appease US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to withdraw from NATO if allies do not support his military campaign against Iran. Rutte acknowledged a "small part of the so-called Trump factor" in the spending increases, comparing the president to Dwight Eisenhower in pushing Europeans to share the defence burden. Spain, among others, is under pressure to present a credible path to the 5% target.
Trump is the first since Dwight D. Eisenhower who is achieving this: ensuring that, while the US has always been committed to NATO, that expectation Washington has held since Eisenhower that we spend the same on defence is also met.
Ukraine and other threats
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski arrived in Ankara seeking more missiles and Patriot air defence systems. Allies are expected to confirm a €140 billion military aid package for Ukraine over two years, drawn largely from previously approved funds. Rutte also warned against naivety towards China and stressed cooperation with Indo-Pacific partners, while Russia and Iran were cited as the main threats driving the rearmament push.
