Shafaqna Pakistan: US President Donald Trump arrived in Ankara on Tuesday for the NATO summit, as the alliance unveiled billions of dollars in new defence projects aimed at reinforcing its military capabilities and demonstrating increased investment in collective security.
Trump was expected to travel first to the presidential complex for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose government is hosting this year’s summit.
Shortly before Air Force One landed in Ankara, NATO announced a series of multi-billion-dollar military initiatives. Secretary-General Mark Rutte described the projects as “money well spent” while addressing government ministers and defence industry representatives at a high-profile forum showcasing the alliance’s latest defence investments.
NATO as an organisation 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 Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will be supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced.
“It’s a moment of great pride,” he said, noting that the twin-engine aircraft would be “made within the alliance for all the alliance.”
Some of the projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.
“We need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,” Rutte said.
Trump has branded NATO a “paper tiger” that would cease to function without American arms and leadership. At the forum on Tuesday, Michael Duffy, a US undersecretary of defense, said “the reality is that we need production increases across the board.”
“We will be looking to increase our exports to those who are looking to buy our equipment, and we’ll also be looking to partner with the expansion of production capacity here in Europe,” he said.
Source: Dunya News
