NATO

NATO anticipates that all of its 32 members will meet its longstanding target to spend 2% of GDP on defense, though only three meet the revised 3.5% target figure.

The $28.4 billion that defense technology startups raised from venture capital through June puts the sector on track for one of its best years ever.

A 12-country consortium plans to start developing a major new variant of the RIM-162 Evolved Seasparrow Missile (ESSM).

Signs of activity on the arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya point to a resumption of flight tests on Russia’s 9M370 Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile.

Two aspiring Canadian space companies have set a schedule for a first orbital launch attempt in the third quarter of 2028 from a spaceport in Nova Scotia.

Our roundup of the main aerospace and defense stories making the news this week.

NATO military commanders and politicians see more potential in the use of drones, but this shouldn't come at the expense of “legacy” systems, a think tank says.

Europe's hope of reaching NATO's higher level of defense spending rests disproportionately with France and Germany, but a key potential obstacle is politics.

The Lithuanian government has formally asked NATO to bolster its air and missile defenses over growing concerns about Russian military activity.

From radars to fighters, military equipment output in Europe is on a growth trajectory.

Several NATO countries have become the first to contribute to the new PURL initiative to arm Ukraine with U.S.-made defense equipment.

Electro Optic Systems says it has secured a deal to provide a counter-drone laser system to an undisclosed European buyer.

German defense supplier Hensoldt is starting to develop a new phase of capacity expansion to ensure it can deliver on an anticipated order wave from 2027 on.

SES and the Luxembourg government plan to add a second GovSat communications satellite, again opting to use Thales Alenia Space for the system.

Defense officials in the U.S., UK and Europe are grappling with what comes next for airborne early warning systems.

Denmark says it has agreed to buy four General Atomics MQ-9B SkyGuardian uncrewed aircraft systems.

Belgium will acquire 11 additional Lockheed Martin F-35 Joint Strike Fighters, boosting its planned fleet for 45 aircraft.

Discussions among senior military leaders internationally have taken on a more serious approach, the top U.S. Air Force officer says

North Atlantic Treaty Organization officials are growing anxious about plans to replace the alliance’s flagship E-3A AWACS early warning aircraft.

Thales says it is in advanced talks with RTX to buy the U.S. company’s stake in the Thales-Raytheon Systems joint venture.

President Donald Trump approved an acceleration of arms shipments to Ukraine on July 14, with U.S. weapons paid for by European governments.

Turkey’s ASFAT is trying to turn domestic military factories into export powerhouses for aerospace maintenance and parts.

The German Bundestag has begun the debate on higher defense spending that would also see a significant uptick in the procurement budget for the current year.

NATO’s June 2025 summit will no doubt go down as a key point in the alliance’s history. Headlines since the start of the meeting in the Hague firmly suggest that member states agreed to a massive increase in defense related spending with NATO shifting guidelines levels of defense spending from 2% of GDP to 5% by 2035. On paper this would increase European NATO member spending from $476.2 billion in 2024 to well over a trillion dollars by the middle of the next decade based on alliance figures.

Questions still hang over the implementation of NATO members' increased defense spending goal.