NATO to Announce Tens of Billions of Dollars in Defense Deals, Cutting Reliance on U.S. Defense [NATO Summit Opens]

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will announce new defense industry contracts worth tens of billions of dollars at the summit in Ankara, Türkiye, which opened on the 7th local time. The move is intended to link member states' pledged increases in defense spending to actual weapons production and joint procurement.
According to AFP and other outlets, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said at a press conference in Ankara on the 6th that "major defense contracts to procure critical equipment needed to strengthen allies' deterrence and defense capabilities will be announced at the annual summit." The contracts will be unveiled at the defense forum, an official summit event, and could involve substantial purchases of U.S.-made equipment.
The announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump has been pressuring European allies to shoulder more of the defense burden. European NATO allies and Canada currently spend about 4% of gross domestic product (GDP) on defense and security, narrowing the gap with U.S. spending. NATO plans to use this summit to underscore that higher defense spending is translating into real military capability.
Rutte said that "remarkable progress has already been made toward the goal agreed last year of reaching 5% of GDP in defense and security spending by 2035." He added that countries will present more concrete and credible implementation plans at this meeting. Foreign media outlets said the summit could mark a turning point as European allies increase their defense burden and reduce dependence on the United States.
There was also a message aimed at China. Rutte noted that developments in the Indo-Pacific are not unrelated to European security. He stressed that what happens in the Pacific Ocean also affects security in the Atlantic Ocean, and that NATO must prepare not only for Russia but also for broader changes in the security environment.
In this regard, NATO members are also working on institutional arrangements to create a joint fund for rearmament and defense industry development. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland and Poland are pushing ahead with the Multilateral Defense Mechanism (MDM), aimed at securing defense financing and targeting a launch in 2027, and said they have made significant progress. In a statement released that day, the four countries said they would "work to expand the coalition of countries participating in the project and plan to move to the next stage of MDM development this fall with countries that have expressed interest in joining."
NATO members will also announce plans at the summit to establish a special bank for rearmament and expanded defense financing. The proposed institution is tentatively called the Defense, Security and Resilience Bank (DSRB). Proposed in 2024 by several experts, including former NATO security advisers, the DSRB is designed to help raise defense funding in response to the Russia-Ukraine War and the military expansion of Russia and China.
pjw@fnnews.com Park Jong-won Reporter