WASHINGTON — The I’LL TAKE signed a contract worth nearly $700 million so that its members can produce more missiles Stinger, one of several steps the alliance is taking at its summit in Washington to get countries to increase their own capabilities production warlike.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the contract Tuesday at a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event focused on boosting countries’ weapons manufacturing capabilities to deter future attacks.
“There is no way to provide a strong defence without a strong defence industry,” said Stoltenberg, who is at the end of his term in the military alliance.
The Stinger is a man-portable surface-to-air missile that can be carried by a soldier or mounted on a vehicle and used for short-range defense against aircraft. The missile, made by Raytheon, was one of the first weapons the United States sent to Ukraine following the Russian invasion in 2022.
The NATO summit comes at a time of great uncertainty: political disputes in the United States have delayed arms deliveries to Ukraine for months and the upcoming US election has raised questions about Washington’s future support for the alliance.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is demanding that NATO countries meet a target of spending 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Of the 32 NATO countries, 23 are expected to meet the 2% target this year, compared with just six before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since the invasion, the United States has sent more than $53.6 billion in aid or arms to Ukraine. This support, along with arms shipments to Israel and Taiwan, has depleted American arsenals. NATO members and other international partners have sent about $50 billion in total in arms and security assistance, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, an independent think tank based in Germany.
U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan told the Chamber of Commerce that for the first time, NATO countries will each pledge to develop plans to strengthen their own defense industrial capabilities. He said this will help the alliance “prioritize production of the most vital defense equipment we would need in the event of a conflict.”
Source: With information from AP