NATO announces major defense contracts at summit industry forum

Several major defense procurement agreements, including one involving Airbus, were announced Tuesday by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum (NSDIF26), held alongside the NATO Summit in Ankara, AFP reported.

Rutte announced that a 10th Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft will be added to NATO's multinational fleet of aerial refueling and transport aircraft, CE Report quotes AGERPRES.

The Airbus A330 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) is a military aircraft designed for both air-to-air refueling and strategic transport missions.

With the addition of the new aircraft, NATO is moving closer to its goal of operating a full fleet of 12 A330 MRTTs, Rutte said.

Several NATO members also unveiled a multinational project centered on the Airbus A400M military transport aircraft.

"This represents a world-class strategic airlift capability. The A330 MRTT and A400M will provide the Alliance with two high-performance multinational fleets," Rutte said.

Rutte also announced another major defense initiative involving Swedish defense company Saab, as NATO seeks to strengthen Europe's defense capabilities in line with calls from the United States under President Donald Trump.

Saab CEO Micael Johansson said the company could begin delivering GlobalEye airborne surveillance aircraft in 2030, provided NATO signs a contract soon.

Johansson said the final price has not yet been agreed but is expected to range between $400 million and $450 million per aircraft.

At the end of 2023, NATO announced plans to replace its aging AWACS surveillance aircraft, manufactured by Boeing, with 10 GlobalEye aircraft.

Rutte also announced that NATO allies have agreed to cooperate on purchasing, storing, transporting, and managing stockpiles of critical defense materials.

The initiative includes Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Türkiye.

In addition, NATO allies announced plans to purchase up to five Northrop Grumman MQ-4C Triton high-altitude surveillance drones. Norway, Finland, Germany, and Denmark have signed a letter of intent for the acquisition.

The purchase marks NATO's first acquisition of MQ-4C Triton drones and will complement the Alliance's existing fleet of RQ-4D Phoenix intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance drones based at Sigonella Air Base in Sicily, Italy.

Both the Triton and Phoenix systems are derived from Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk platform, which has a wingspan of 35.4 meters (116 feet) and can remain airborne for more than 30 hours.

According to Rutte, NATO allies will invest more than $40 billion over the next five years in counter-drone capabilities.

He stressed that intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance remain essential to the Alliance's defense strategy.

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