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NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte announced major allied air power projects in Ankara on Tuesday as the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit opened with the Defense Industry Forum, where transatlantic defense production and investment are taking center stage.
Speaking ahead of the major presentation at the forum, Rutte said allies were beginning to see concrete results from decisions taken a year earlier in the Hague to invest more in the defense industry.
He said allies had made significant progress toward the goal of allocating 5% of gross domestic product to defense by 2035.
Rutte said allies and industry groups on both sides of the Atlantic were signing major projects worth billions of U.S. dollars in Ankara.
The investments will not only strengthen security but also stimulate the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs, he said, adding that the projects are being developed through close cooperation among multiple countries rather than by a single nation.
Rutte announced that NATO allies will increase their air power capacity with 12 aircraft to be purchased from Airbus as part of their tanker transport fleet.
The project is led by Airbus' European industry structure and expands NATO-EU cooperation to include industrial partners in the United States.
The announcement focused on a new structure capable of air-to-air refueling, aimed at strengthening the alliance's defense and deterrence.
The Airbus president and the company's defense and space chief executive were invited to the stage after the presentation.
The 10 countries participating in Airbus' MRTT, or Multi Role Tanker Transport, initiative were listed as Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Spain.
Rutte also announced that five MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicles would be added to NATO's arsenal.
The additional aircraft will provide uninterrupted surveillance over large maritime areas by day and night, according to the announcement.
They will be able to fly at high altitude for long durations and cover broad areas, including open seas, more efficiently than most aircraft.
Rutte also announced that NATO's E-3 AWACS aircraft would be replaced with Saab's GlobalEye AWACS aircraft.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is expected to meet several leaders during the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, Slovak President Peter Pellegrini, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, Montenegrin Prime Minister Milojko Spajic, NATO Secretary General Rutte and European Council President Antonio Costa.
Foreign ministers and defense ministers will also meet during working dinners as part of the summit.
A special session will also be held at the foreign ministers' level under the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which was launched at the 2004 NATO Summit in Istanbul and includes Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The NATO Istanbul Cooperation Initiative Foreign Ministers Meeting will be held during the summit.
The Ankara summit is expected to focus on unity and solidarity among allies despite recent tensions in transatlantic relations.
Key agenda items include Europe's assumption of leadership in conventional defense and the development of the "NATO 3.0" vision, which foresees a reassessment of the U.S. military presence in Europe.
The future of support for Ukraine will also be discussed.
Allies are also expected to make commitments to increase defense spending and strengthen defense industry production capacity.
The NATO summit is expected to draw a large number of local and international journalists.
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