从 GlobalEye 到 Triton，第一波北约峰会协议押注于空中能力

ANKARA, Turkey — NATO kicked off its annual Summit here by announcing a series of new air power deals and initiatives with a heavy focus on boosting surveillance and strategic airlift capabilities.

At a defense industry forum on the sidelines of the event today, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte rolled out the first wave of lucrative acquisitions, headlined by three major decisions: the procurement of up to 10 Swe dish-made GlobalEye surveillance aircraft, initiation of a new multinational High Visibility Project for a fleet of Airbus A400M transport planes and the integration of five US-produced MQ-4C drones into the alliance’s ISR force.

Though exact contract values were not disclosed, Rutte said these projects are worth “billions of dollars” and will be “money well-spent.” This major aviation push is in step with a wider plan by allied nations to reportedly unveiltens of billionsin new arms contracts during the two-day Summit. Today’s pledges come after US President Donald Trump, who arrived in Ankara tomuch fanfare, repeatedly called on NATO to invest more in its own defense.

The GlobalEye choice carried its own geopolitical implications, as the selection of a European solution comes after allies axed a plan to initially replace aging E-3 surveillance platforms with Boeing-made E-7 Wedgetails.

On a programmatic level, GlobalEye negotiations between the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) and the manufacturer Saab are to proceed immediately, prior to contract signing. GlobalEye-maker Saab said in a statement following Rutte’s remarks that “GlobalEye will enable the Alliance to monitor vast areas of land, sea and air, significantly enhancing NATO’s ability to detect and respond to a wide range of threats.”

A NATO press release stated that the effort will employ the Airbus A330 Multirole Tanker Transport (MRTT) fleet “pooling and sharing” concept, allowing participating countries to pool the aircraft and share costs.