In public, Rutte has repeatedly raised the issue and cajoled industry into scaling up production — whether or not they have agreed-upon contracts.
“Commercial companies are there to make sure that where there are business opportunities, you grasp it — there is now a huge business opportunity,” he said in Sweden on Thursday. “You will see in Ankara … this is a main issue to be discussed.”
In private, he has pressed European allies to bring evidence of increased production and industrial contracts to the July summit, said a fourth senior NATO diplomat. “Rutte has told allies, whatever you have in the pipeline, please bring it to Ankara,” they said.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte during his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in the White House on October 22, 2025. | Alex Wong/Getty Images
That includes encouraging joint ventures with American defense firms and more U.S. arms sales, according to two senior NATO diplomats. Boosting production will also likely be “a huge part” of the summit declaration, said the second senior diplomat.
The declaration will be packaged with deals that NATO has not yet formally announced, according to a person familiar with the matter, including the decision to replace its aging fleet of Boeing 707 AWACS aircraft with Saab’s GlobalEye reconnaissance planes.
Separately, the alliance will present a revamp at the summit of its 2013 Framework for NATO Industry Engagement governing its relationship with defense firms, which may include proposals like integration of startups into NATO-wide exercises.
