Trump administration live updates: Ukraine targets Moscow with more than 400 drones ahead of NATO summit - EUROPE SAYS
NATO this morning showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars in an attempt to convince Trump that U. S. allies are converting fresh defense spending into real firepower. “It’s money well. . .
NATO this morning showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars in an attempt to convince Trump that U. S. allies are converting fresh defense spending into real firepower. “It’s money well spent,” an energized NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told government ministers and defense industry officials on the sidelines of a summit in Turkey. He was speaking at a defense industry forum billed as NATO’s “big reveal,” to the thrum of techno music and a slick video display. NATO as an organization does not own any weapons — these are the property of the 32 member countries — 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. A deal to replace the aging planes was announced this morning. Representatives from 15 nations shook hands and patted shoulders on a vast podium under the NATO logo as they announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus. Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO’s small fleet. “It is genuinely made in NATO, and creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,” he said. However no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed.