European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies, Germany & Netherlands – ECCI
NATO’s new Airborne Warning and Control System is announced
NATO ـ During the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara on Tuesday (7 July 2026), 11 Allies announced the joint procurement of Saab GlobalEye aircraft as NATO’s new Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). The decision marks a significant step in modernising NATO’s airborne surveillance and early warning capabilities by replacing part of the Alliance’s aging Boeing E-3 fleet.
The GlobalEye system will provide advanced, multi-domain surveillance across air, land and sea from a single platform. It will provide enhanced detection and tracking of complex threats, including drone swarms, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles. The aircraft will strengthen NATO’s situational awareness and support operations.
The project is an example of close transatlantic industrial cooperation, with European and Canadian industry in the lead and important contributions from U.S. companies. In parallel, eight Allies also launched a new cooperative project to field airborne early warning capabilities to meet their national requirements.
NATO’s new Airborne Warning and Control System is among many capability and industrial commitments being unveiled at the Ankara Summit, demonstrating concrete progress in strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence.
The 11 Allies of this coalition are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania, and Sweden.
NATO Allies launch new project on critical raw materials for defence
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced on Tuesday (7 July 2026) the launch of a new multinational High Visibility Project on defence critical raw materials.
The project brings together 12 NATO Allies to work jointly on strengthening the resilience of defence supply chains. It focuses on the acquisition, storage, transport, and management of critical raw materials, components, and recycled products essential for defence production.
Speaking at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, the Secretary General underlined the strategic importance of the initiative. “For our defence to remain ready and strong, we need our industrial base and our supply chains to be resilient,” he said.
The project reflects Allies’ determination to reduce vulnerabilities in strategic supply chains and ensure more secure and stable access to critical materials through closer cooperation.
The 12 Allies participating in the project on critical raw materials for defence are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Türkiye.
NATO launches new initiatives to accelerate defence industrial cooperation
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Tuesday (7 July 2026) launched two major new initiatives at the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara to strengthen and accelerate transatlantic defence industrial cooperation.
Speaking at the Forum, the Secretary General announced the creation of the NATO Front Door for Industry, a new platform designed to give companies a single, simplified point of access to NATO procurement opportunities, innovation events, and other engagement channels. He also introduced the NATO Engine, a new framework aimed at expanding industrial production capacity across the Alliance by connecting available factory capacity and fostering cross-border collaboration between European, Canadian, and U.S. companies.
“Today, we are launching the NATO Front Door for Industry. This is a new platform to improve awareness of opportunities and streamline engagement with the Alliance,” Mr. Rutte said. He added that the NATO Engine was created because “no one nation has the industrial capacity required to meet the large and growing demand,” particularly for air defence and strike capabilities.
The two initiatives form part of a wider set of measures presented at the Forum to translate the 5% GDP defence investment commitment into concrete capabilities and faster industrial output.
European Centre for Counterterrorism and Intelligence Studies, Germany & Netherlands – ECCI
