NATO set to boost ground-based air defences by five times

NATO is asking European member states to expand ground-based air-defence capabilities fivefold as the alliance races to fill a key gap in response to the threat of Russian aggression, people familiar with the matter said.

The ramp-up will be discussed at a gathering of North Atlantic Treaty Organization defence ministers in Brussels on Thursday, the people said on condition of anonymity as deliberations take place behind closed doors. The fivefold target would be collective for the alliance’s European member states, with individual levels varying at the end, the people said. A timeframe for the air-defense effort wasn’t clear.

Ministers this week are already set to approve one of the most ambitious commitments to raising weapons stocks since the Cold War as part of European and Canadian efforts to re-arm and scale back their dependence on US defence systems.

The boost in weaponry is part of broader ambitions to raise defense spending across the alliance. Spurred by US President Donald Trump, NATO members are coalescing around a target of spending 5% of economic output-3.5% on core defense and another 1.5% in defence-related outlays on areas including infrastructure, cyber defense and civilian preparedness. “We are not at war, but we’re not at peace either,” NATO secretary General Mark Rutte said at a meeting in Vilnius on Monday. “We must continue to strengthen our deterrence and defense and that means pivoting toward a full war-fighting readiness.”

Ukraine Invited to Summit

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been invited to a NATO summit later in June, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The heads of NATO states will gather in The Hague, Netherlands, from June 24-26. “We were invited to the NATO summit. I think this is important,” Zelenskyy said late on Monday after meeting Rutte in Vilnius.