7 July 2026
Defence companies from NATO member states gathered in Ankara on 7 July 2026 for an industry forum held alongside the alliance's annual summit, where several defence cooperation and procurement agreements were announced. The following are the main deals that were announced.
Note: NATO as an organisation does not own any weapons — these are the property of the 32 member states — 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.
Global Eye to replace AWACS
A deal to replace the aging AWACS (Boeing E-3 fleet) was announced with Sweden’s manufacturer Saab supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for an 11-nation consortium (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Romania and Sweden). Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it is “a moment of great pride", noting that the twin-engine aircraft would be “made within the alliance for all the alliance”. Deliveries could happen as soon as 2030, and the final price is expected to be roughly $400 - $450 million per aircraft.
Strike capabilities
Several new multinational projects and contracts were announced, including efforts to develop a generic NATO 155mm munition, the Generic NATO Indirect Fire Round (GENIFR) project, with nine allies agreeing to build this prototype (Canada, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Norway, Slovakia, Sweden and Türkiye). Six allies (Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Türkiye and the UK) also launched NATO’s multinational Ground-Based Precision Strike Capabilities High Visibility Project to explore the multinational development of novel deep precision strike capabilities, including new launchers and missiles.
Lockheed Martin and Rheinmetall signed an agreement to jointly manufacture ATACMS missiles in Germany, marking the first time these ballistic missiles will be produced outside the United States. Türkiye also committed to procuring a significant number of its indigenously developed ATMACA land-based long-range cruise missiles. It was also agreed to scale up production of 155mm and loitering munitions through several framework contracts delivered by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), although NATO has not publicly released the specific list of nations participating in these exact framework contracts.
Integrated Air and Missile Defence
New cooperation initiatives were unveiled to strengthen capabilities against lower air threats, including drones and cruise missiles, as well as efforts to enhance passive air surveillance. The NSPA will acquire 700 PAC-2 and 200 PAC-3 missiles. Belgium and the Netherlands signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the government-to-government procurement of air defence systems, while Türkiye announced major investments in its domestic air defence production.
Refuelling and transport aircraft
Representatives from 15 member states announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refuelling and transport planes from Airbus. Seven allies (Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Türkiye and the UK) launched a new multinational High Visibility Project for a fleet on the Airbus A400M military aircraft. The A400M multinational initiative will follow the same ‘pooling and sharing’ concept as applied to the multinational Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet, which received its first aircraft in 2020. In addition, Finland joined the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF). Together, the nine MRTT members (Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden) also announced the imminent delivery of the 10th Airbus A330 MRTT aircraft, bringing the Fleet closer to its full capacity of 12 aircraft. Both the A400M and the A330 MRTT fleets deliver air-to-air refuelling, strategic airlift, and medical evacuation capabilities to NATO and help support the deterrence and defence posture.
Counter-drone capabilities and drone training
It was announced that over $40 billion will be invested in counter-drone capabilities over the next five years and NATO aims to train five times as many drone operators by the end of 2027. To support rapid procurement, NATO will establish a counter-drone marketplace that will ensure that systems are NATO-tested, NATO-compatible and available for purchase. To support drone training, allies will also leverage NATO’s multinational Flight Training Europe (NFTE) initiative, which will be extended to cover training for drone operators. The NFTE operates sixteen flight centres established across eight countries. Finland, France and Sweden joined the seventeen other NFTE members.
Surveillance drones
A four-country consortium (Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway) announced it is to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO’s small fleet that operates from Sigonella airbase in Italy. Specifically designed for maritime surveillance, the aircraft can sustain 24-hour flights at an altitude of more than 15 km. “It is genuinely made in NATO and creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic”, Rutte said. A transatlantic industrial consortium is being formed to deliver this capability. While Northrop Grumman will build the Triton aircraft, Airbus Defence and Space and other European companies will provide the ground segment, data management services, command and control, infrastructure and mission support.
Critical raw materials
A new multinational High Visibility Project was announced on defence critical raw materials. The project brings together 12 NATO allies (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Türkiye) to work jointly on strengthening the resilience of military supply chains. It focuses on the acquisition, storage, transport and management of critical raw materials, components, and recycled products essential for military production.
High-end space capabilities
NATO allies announced multinational initiatives and partnerships to develop new space-based capabilities. Eight allies (Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Türkiye) launched a new multinational initiative named HALO – Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space. HALO will focus on improving connectivity and integration of sovereign, nationally owned and controlled military satellites into a networked mega constellation. It aims to improve alliance resilience and military advantage in space, enabling high-speed communications, intelligence and missile tracking.
At the forum, several allies also announced significant contributions to other NATO space-based capabilities. Canada became the 15th member of NATO’s 2024 STARLIFT multinational initiative (the other members are Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, UK and USA), which explores ways to develop a network of launch capabilities that will help allies launch assets at short notice from spaceports across the alliance. The German company Isar Aerospace also signed a contract with Canada’s Maritime Launch Services to secure access the launch infrastructure and services at Spaceport Nova Scotia and improve its orbital launch readiness.
Spain became the 19th country to join NATO’s 2023 Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space (APSS, the other participants are: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Türkiye and the USA), the largest multinational investment in space-based capabilities in NATO’s history. Spain will contribute by increasing coastal surveillance through imagery from its ‘Atlantic Constellation’ satellites. Following the success of the original IMECE Earth observation satellite launched in April 2023, Türkiye announced an ambitious plan for the development of two additional high-resolution satellites to complement space capabilities in the region. This is in addition to an investment into Low Orbital satellites for military communications and the development of Early Warning Radar Systems.