NATO allies unveiled some $12 billion in defense deals at an industry forum opening the alliance's July 7-8 Ankara summit, including a $5 billion, 11-country order of Saab surveillance aircraft to replace U.S.-made AWACS, $2.7 billion for Northrop Grumman Triton drones, $4.3 billion for Airbus transport planes and agreements shifting production and maintenance of U.S.-designed missiles to Europe, Bloomberg reported on July 7. Secretary-General Mark Rutte also announced over $40 billion in allied counter-drone investment over five years.

The summit comes after a turbulent few years for the alliance, and especially a fraught last six months marked by the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which increased friction between Washington and European capitals, renewed U.S. threats to quit NATO and led to a six-month Pentagon review of its European posture. Washington has also announced the withdrawal of 5,000 troops from Germany and cuts to fighter jet and long-range fire deployments. At NATO's 2025 Hague summit, allies committed under U.S. pressure to spending 5% of GDP on defense by 2035 — 3.5% on core military budgets plus 1.5% on infrastructure.