NATO signs $700 million Stinger missile contract as it makes plans to boost arms production
WASHINGTON — NATO has signed a nearly $700 million contract to force member states to produce more Stinger missiles, one of several steps the alliance is taking at its summit in Washington to push each country to increase its own weapons production capacity.
Outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced the contract Tuesday at a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, which was aimed at increasing NATO member states’ defense production capacity to deter future attacks.
“There is no way to provide a strong defense without a strong defense industry,” Stoltenberg said.
The Stinger is a portable surface-to-air defense system that can be carried and fired by troops or mounted on a vehicle and used for short-range defense against aircraft. The Raytheon-made system was among the first weapons the U.S. shipped to Ukraine after the Russian invasion in 2022.
The NATO summit takes place against a backdrop of uncertainty: political divisions in the US have delayed the delivery of weapons to Ukraine for months, and upcoming presidential elections mean that US support – with weapons and troops – is not always guaranteed in the event of threats against member states.
Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, has boasted during campaign speeches that he would encourage Russia to do whatever it wanted to NATO members who failed to meet their commitment to spend 2% of their gross domestic product on defense.
Of NATO’s 32 member states, 23 are expected to meet the 2% target this year, up from just six before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Since the invasion, the U.S. has provided more than $53.6 billion in arms and security aid to Ukraine. The support, at a time when the U.S. is also sending weapons to Israel and Taiwan, has strained the U.S. stockpile. The rest of NATO members and other international partners have provided a total of about $50 billion in arms and security aid, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, an independent research organization based in Germany.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the Chamber of Commerce that NATO countries will for the first time ever pledge to make plans to strengthen their own defense industrial capabilities. He said this will help the alliance “prioritize the production of the most vital defense equipment that we would need in the event of a conflict.”
Two NATO officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not yet been made public, said part of the summit is aimed at getting each member to commit to submitting defense industrial plans over the next year on how they plan to ramp up domestic production.
The 32 members have widely varying sizes and capabilities in the defense industry, so each country’s plans could vary widely, from working with industry to working with other countries, one of the officials said.
___
Cook reported from Brussels.