NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte is urging the defence industry to increase production rates and accelerate innovation in order to strengthen the alliance's defence capabilities.
At the Transatlantic Defense Industry Access Forum at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 10 June, the United States gathered over 50 American companies together with Belgian industry representatives to discuss transatlantic defence industrial cooperation.
– When you all produce more, our deterrence and defence capabilities become stronger, and we all become safer, Rutte said according to NATO.
The Secretary General referred to the defence investment plan of five per cent of GDP that the allies agreed upon at the Hague Summit last year, and pointed to the next NATO Summit in Ankara as an occasion at which concrete results must be presented.
– Cash is essential. But next month's summit in Ankara must not only be about money; it must be about combat-ready capabilities and about significantly scaling up our defence industries, said Rutte.
He also emphasised that investments in the defence industry strengthen both security and the economy and employment, and underlined the value of transatlantic cooperation.
– The bottom line is that our defence, and I am completely convinced of this, is at its strongest when we combine the ideas, assets, and industries we have on both sides of the Atlantic, said Rutte.