NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte called for faster defence production during the NATO Summit Defence Industry Forum in The Hague. He said NATO members and defence companies needed to work together to produce more weapons, ammunition, aircraft and ships.
Rutte said hundreds of production lines had opened or expanded across NATO countries. He also pointed to joint projects for testing military technology, securing critical raw materials and increasing the multinational tanker fleet.
The Secretary General welcomed the European Union's Readiness 2030 plan, which could provide up to €800 billion for defence, and called for fewer barriers between European and North American companies. He also supported cooperation with Ukraine's defence industry.
The forum was held one day before NATO leaders approved a plan to raise defence and security investment to 5 percent of gross domestic product by 2035. Rutte said higher government spending would require defence companies to increase production.