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NATO Presses CEOs to Speed Missile Production, Hit 5% GDP

5/16/2026

Summary

Story summary

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will convene a Brussels summit with CEOs of Europe’s defence firms, including Rheinmetall, Safran, Airbus, Saab, MBDA and Leonardo.
NATO urges the companies to scale air-defence and long-range missile production now, without waiting for new contracts.
Reaching the 5 % of GDP defence-spending target could add $1 trillion annually by 2035, with the meeting preceding the July NATO summit in Ankara where multi-billion-dollar procurement deals are expected.

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Story summary

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will convene a Brussels summit with CEOs of Europe’s defence firms, including Rheinmetall, Safran, Airbus, Saab, MBDA and Leonardo.
NATO urges the companies to scale air-defence and long-range missile production now, without waiting for new contracts.
Reaching the 5 % of GDP defence-spending target could add $1 trillion annually by 2035, with the meeting preceding the July NATO summit in Ankara where multi-billion-dollar procurement deals are expected.