NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on 7 July announced a series of 'new major projects' in defence at the Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, Turkey, including contracts worth billions of dollars, a $40 billion anti-drone investment, and expanded multinational fleet capabilities. The announcements mark the first concrete delivery of commitments made at The Hague summit a year ago, where allies pledged to invest 5 per cent of GDP in defence and security by 2035.

Key Announcements at the Forum

Rutte opened the forum by pointing to measurable outcomes from the 2024 Hague commitments. 'Today and tomorrow, we will sign contracts worth billions of dollars, which will boost our economies, enhance our security, and create hundreds of thousands of jobs,' he said. 'These are NATO-made capabilities, achieved by working together, in close cooperation.'

Among the headline projects is an in-flight refuelling platform and a rapid equipment-movement initiative spanning several allies. Finland has formally joined the multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet, bringing the membership to nine nations: Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. The nine members jointly announced the imminent delivery of the tenth Airbus A330 MRTT, moving the fleet closer to its full capacity of 12 aircraft.

$40 Billion Anti-Drone Push

A major pillar of the forum's output is an investment of over $40 billion in anti-drone capabilities over the next five years. NATO also set a target to quintuple the number of drone operators by the end of 2027. To accelerate procurement, the alliance will establish a dedicated anti-drone capability market to ensure availability of tested systems compatible with NATO standards.

For training, allies will leverage the multinational NATO Flight Training Europe (NFTE) initiative, which covers all flight personnel and will now be extended to drone operator training. At the forum, Finland, France, and Sweden joined the existing 17 NFTE members, expanding the programme's reach.

NSPA Surveillance Drone Contract

The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) separately awarded a contract worth 'hundreds of millions of dollars' for the purchase of surveillance drones for allied nations. The contract underscores the alliance's accelerating shift toward unmanned systems as a core defence layer.

What This Signals for NATO's Defence Posture

This comes amid sustained pressure — particularly from the United States — on European allies to increase defence spending and reduce dependence on US capabilities. The Ankara forum's output represents a visible effort to demonstrate burden-sharing in action. Notably, the anti-drone investment and MRTT fleet expansion both address capability gaps that have been highlighted repeatedly since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The contracts signed this week are expected to sustain defence-industrial activity across multiple member economies for years ahead.