NATO Unveils Billions in Arms Deals    07/07 06:13

   President Donald Trump arrived in Ankara Tuesday afternoon for the NATO 
summit, as the transatlantic military alliance was announcing billions in arms 
deals in an attempt to appease the mercurial U.S. leader.

   ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- President Donald Trump arrived in Ankara Tuesday 
afternoon for the NATO summit, as the transatlantic military alliance was 
announcing billions in arms deals in an attempt to appease the mercurial U.S. 
leader.

   Trump was expected to head first to the presidential compound of Turkish 
leader Recep Tayyip Erdoan, a close ally who is hosting this year's gathering.

   Just before Air Force One touched down in Ankara, NATO showcased a series of 
military projects worth billions of dollars -- an investment that the 
alliance's secretary-general, Mark Rutte, called "money well spent." An 
energized Rutte was speaking to government ministers and defense industry 
officials at a forum billed as NATO's "big reveal," to the thrum of techno 
music and a slick video display.

   NATO as an organization does not own any weapons -- these are the property 
of the 32 member countries -- but it does have a fleet of 14 AWACS early 
warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with some 
newer surveillance drones.

   A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish 
manufacturer Saab will be supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance 
aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson 
announced.

   "It's a moment of great pride," he said, noting that the twin-engine 
aircraft would be "made within the alliance for all the alliance."

   Some of the projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap 
loans for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 
billion raised on capital markets.

   "We need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military 
capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money 
to missiles and interceptors," Rutte said.

   Trump has branded NATO a "paper tiger" that would cease to function without 
American arms and leadership. At the forum on Tuesday, Michael Duffy, a U.S. 
undersecretary of defense, said "the reality is that we need production 
increases across the board."

   "We will be looking to increase our exports to those who are looking to buy 
our equipment, and we'll also be looking to partner with the expansion of 
production capacity here in Europe," he said.

   Defense sales announced

   Representatives from 15 nations shook hands and patted shoulders on a vast 
podium under the NATO logo as they announced a multinational effort to buy 
air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus.

   Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new 
Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO's small fleet.

   "It is genuinely made in NATO, and creating jobs on both sides of the 
Atlantic," he said.

   Rutte told reporters on the eve of the military alliance's two-day summit in 
Turkey that "we will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will 
provide the crucial kit we need to deter and defend."

   However, at Tuesday's event, no dollar figures were given and the display 
included some projects long since agreed.

   The defense industry splash comes a few weeks after Rutte tried to ease U.S. 
concerns about military spending at NATO with a new pitch using a chart labeled 
"The Trump Trillion" -- showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies 
and Canada since 2017.

   Far from being impressed, Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still 
disappointed at some NATO allies' refusal to join the Iran war, which he had 
launched alongside Israel without consulting them.

   "We don't need their money -- we don't need anything," Trump said. "I just 
want loyalty."

   Debate over jet sales to Turkey

   The summit is being held in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's sprawling 
palace compound in Ankara, and Trump has suggested he would come bearing gifts 
for the Turkish leader.

   Speaking Monday on the morning show "Fox & Friends," Israeli Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, 
saying that Erdogan "calls openly for the annihilation of Israel."

   Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses 
Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 
7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.

   Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019 after it purchased 
Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems. However, Trump, who has warm 
relations with Erdogan, has hinted ahead of his planned visit to Ankara that 
the sales could soon resume.

   Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would "upset the power balance in the 
Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and 
also, I think, by America's posture in the Middle East."

   Israel's Air Force depends on hundreds of U.S. fighter jets, including 
F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.

   Turkey beefed up security and banned protests in Ankara during the summit, 
but a small group of demonstrators gathered on Tuesday in the capital. They 
were quickly surrounded by police, and a legal association said 22 students 
affiliated with the leftist Turkish Workers Party and three lawyers had been 
detained.

   Seeking a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO

   The focus of the summit is a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO. The Trump 
administration has warned the allies that they must handle Europe's security 
alone as the United States focuses on China and the Indo-Pacific region.

   The Pentagon wants a reboot and is promoting what it calls "NATO 3.0," a 
vision of the alliance in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for its 
own defense, freeing the U.S. to concentrate on other priorities.

   But hiking defense spending means increasing taxes or diverting resources 
from other priorities. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit 
last month, saying the British government was not willing to spend at a time of 
rising threats.

   Concern is mounting among some northern and central eastern countries that 
Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack -- a combination of conventional 
warfare with tactics like cyberattacks -- on the continent as Russian President 
Vladimir Putin struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.

   Keir Starmer's office said the British leader will be "focused on building a 
stronger and more European NATO" on what is likely to be his last foreign trip 
as prime minister.

   Starmer, who announced his resignation June 22, has faced criticism from 
military leaders, opposition politicians and some in his center-left party for 
the slow rate of increase in U.K. military spending.

   His government has committed to reach the NATO budget target of spending 
3.5% of gross domestic product on defense by 2035 but does not have a concrete 
plan to get there. Its current spending plan will see that spending hit 2.7% of 
GDP by 2029.