NATO’s power play: New military purchases on deck

NATO defence ministers are set to approve purchasing targets for stocking up on weapons and military equipment to better defend Europe, the Arctic and the North Atlantic, as part of a US push to ramp up security spending.

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The ‘capability targets’ lay out goals for each of the 32 nations to purchase priority equipment like air defence systems, long-range missiles, artillery, ammunition, drones and “strategic enablers” such as air-to-air refuelling, heavy air transport and logistics. Each nation's plan is classified, so details are scarce.

“Today we decide on the capability targets. From there, we will assess the gaps we have, not only to be able to defend ourselves today, but also three, five, seven years from now,” NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said. “All these investments have to be financed,” he said before chairing the meeting at NATO's Brussels headquarters.

US President Donald Trump and his NATO counterparts will meet on June 24-25 to agree to new defence investment goals.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that “to be an alliance, you've got to be more than flags. You got to be more than conferences. You need to keep combat ready capabilities.”

Spurred on by their own security concerns, European allies and Canada have already been ramping up military spending, including arms and ammunition purchases, since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

At the same time, some allies balk at US demands to invest 5 per cent of their gross domestic product in defence — 3.5 per cent on core military spending and 1.5 per cent on the roads, bridges, airfields and sea ports needed to deploy armies more quickly — when they have already struggled to grow their budgets to 2 per cent of GDP.

The new targets are assigned by NATO based on a blueprint agreed upon in 2023 — the military organisation's biggest planning shakeup since the Cold War — to defend its territory from an attack by Russia or another major adversary.

Under those plans, NATO would aim to have up to 3,00,000 troops ready to move to its eastern flank within 30 days, although experts suggest the allies would struggle to muster those kinds of numbers.

The member countries are assigned roles in defending NATO territory across three major zones — the high north and Atlantic area, a zone north of the Alps, and another in southern Europe.

NATO planners believe that the targets must be met within 5-10 years, given the speed at which Russia is building its armed forces now, and which would accelerate were any peace agreement reached to end its war on Ukraine.

Some fear Russia might be ready to strike at a NATO country even sooner, especially if Western sanctions are eased and Europe has not prepared. “Are we going to gather here again and say okay, we failed a bit,' and then maybe we start learning Russian?” Lithuanian Defense Minister Dovile Šakaliene said.

Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson also warned that while Russia is bogged down in Ukraine right now, things could quickly change.

“We also know after an armistice or a peace agreement, of course, Russia is going to allocate more forces closer to our vicinity. Therefore, it's extremely important that the alliance use these couple of years now when Russia is still limited by its force posture in and around Ukraine," Jonson said.

If the targets are respected, the member countries will need to spend at least 3 per cent of GDP on defense.

Dutch Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans said his country calculates in the medium term that “we should spend 3.5 per cent at least on defense, which in the Netherlands means an additional 16 to 19 billion euro (USD 18-22 billion) addition to our current budget.”

The Netherlands is likely to buy more tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and long-range missile systems, including US-made Patriots that can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.