NATO Calls for Increase in Air, Missile Defense

(MENAFN) NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte emphasized on Monday the urgent need for the alliance to significantly boost its air and missile defense capabilities by an enormous 400 percent.

This call for action was prompted by critical military deficiencies and growing threats, particularly from Russia and China.

Speaking at Chatham House in London, Rutte expressed concern over Russia's swift rearmament and its ability to outpace NATO in ammunition production.

He starkly pointed out, "Russia produces in three months what the whole of NATO produces in a year."

Rutte presented his vision for a "stronger, fairer, and more lethal" NATO, which would be supported by a new defense spending target of 5 percent of GDP.

Of this total, 3.5 percent would be allocated for fundamental military needs, while the remaining funds would be directed toward improving infrastructure and industrial capacity.

He underscored that production, rather than merely investment, is now the critical area of concern. "It is clear that right across the alliance, we are not producing enough. So as we increase defense investment, we need to increase defense production," Rutte explained.

The NATO Secretary General also highlighted that delays in defense manufacturing mean that the most advanced air defense systems could take up to a decade to be delivered if ordered today, a delay he deemed unacceptable.

Rutte further stressed the need for a dramatic increase in resources, including thousands of additional armored vehicles, millions of artillery shells, expanded logistics and medical support, and major investments in drones, cyber capabilities, and space technology.

"The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defense. The fact is, danger will not disappear, even when the war in Ukraine ends," he concluded.

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