US weapons from tanks to missiles to be built in Europe

Key American weapons including the Abrams tank, AMRAAM and ATACMS missiles, Small Diameter Bombs and Stingers will be produced or sustained in Europe under new industrial cooperation initiatives announced at the NATO summit in Ankara.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced that “the United States and several of its leading defence companies, including Anduril, Boeing, General Dynamics Land Systems, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, have agreed new industrial cooperation initiatives with major European players in the defence sector, like Diehl, PGZ and Rheinmetall,” before setting out what the agreements will deliver.

“This will allow us to produce or sustain key American capabilities such as the Abrams tank, AMRAAMS, ATACMS, the Barracuda-500M, Small Diameter Bombs, and Stingers, here in Europe. I think this is big news. And a demonstration of NATO’s signature transatlantic unity in delivering key capabilities for our joint security. We can do more when we do it together. And we must do more of it.”

Belgium, Canada, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Norway and Sweden took the stage alongside US Undersecretary of War for Acquisition and Sustainment Mike Duffey and the participating companies.

Allies also joined new multinational procurement coalitions alongside the industrial agreements, with Rutte telling the forum: “This really helps us get more of what we need across a range of capabilities, including Naval and Joint Strike Missiles and Small Diameter Bombs. By aggregating demand, and cohering procurement approaches, industrial capacity efforts, and investments, Allies can truly begin to close specific capability gaps. We’re pleased to see a range of Allies working notably with Kongsberg, Raytheon, Boeing, and RWM Italia on some of these initiatives.”

The United Kingdom was called to the stage among the coalition’s participants alongside Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal, Romania and Spain, together with representatives of Boeing and Kongsberg, and while the Royal Navy is beginning to operate the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile, being fitted to its frigates and destroyers as the interim replacement for Harpoon, the announcement did not specify which weapons each participating nation will procure through the coalition.

Underpinning the production push are two structural initiatives launched by the Secretary General, the first of which, the NATO Engine, will establish a network of factories and advanced manufacturing facilities with available capacity accessible to defence industries across the alliance. “No single nation has the industrial capacity required to meet the large and growing demand. Especially for some of the capabilities we need the most, such as air defence and strike capabilities,” Rutte said, continuing: “To rebuild our arsenals and outproduce our competitors, we need to produce capabilities at scale and super-charge innovation. The NATO Engine will support our most promising companies to scale cross-border production and collaboration on both sides of the Atlantic without huge investment,” and describing the concept as “matching spare capacity with those that want to produce fast and, we hope, resulting in dramatically increased production.”

The alliance also opened the NATO Front Door for Industry, a single platform through which companies can access everything from procurement opportunities to innovation events, with Rutte telling industry representatives that “we want it to be simpler and faster. We cannot defend ourselves without you,” and declaring that “the door is now open.” He encouraged firms to test the platform and provide feedback, saying “this is a new phase of NATO’s relationship with industries,” with the system to be refined in the coming months and fully operational in 2027.