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NATO Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge

Transatlantic defence industrial cooperation is a critical part of NATO’s deterrence and defence. Our defence industry provides us with the equipment we need to fight, strengthens our technological edge, and plays an important role in increasing the readiness and interoperability of our forces.

We will leverage the Alliance’s role as convenor, standard setter, requirements setter and aggregator, and delivery enabler to expand defence industrial capacity.

The security of over one billion citizens depends on our investments in deterrence and defence. Sustained, increased defence spending and firm orders, combined with long-term capacity investment, will enable industry to support the Alliance’s response to the challenges of an increasingly unpredictable and hostile security environment. Russia’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine and Russia’s transition to a war economy demonstrate the strategic importance of our defence industry. 

We will accelerate the growth of defence industrial capacity and production across the Alliance, in line with Articles 2 and 3 of the Washington Treaty, building on the ambitions of the Defence Production Action Plan agreed at the Vilnius Summit in 2023. Strengthening our defence industry makes us more capable, better able to deliver against the requirements of NATO's defence plans in a timely manner, and underpins our immediate and enduring support to Ukraine.

Leveraging the Alliance as a key platform, we commit to doing more together as Allies to invest in a strong and capable defence industry. We pledge to:

• Strengthen defence industry across the Alliance: Foster an innovative, competitive, and sustainable defence industry, where reciprocal cooperation and openness are the norm. Strengthened defence industry across Europe and North America and enhanced defence industrial cooperation among Allies, remains essential for delivering the required capabilities. Continue to reduce and eliminate, as appropriate, obstacles to defence trade and investment among Allies. Provide a clear demand signal to industry through firm orders and contracts, increasing multiyear buys and sharing appropriate information on our key requirements. The well-established NATO defence planning process is the sole vehicle for agreeing, defining and apportioning NATO’s capability needs. We will seek to address restrictions to financing of defence industrial investments and promote the ethical nature of their contribution to peace and security.
   
• Take a more systemic approach to defence industrial development: Develop and share individual national plans and strategies among Allies. Each Ally will draft its own national plan, decide how to enhance industrial capability, capacity and responsiveness, revise the plans regularly, and report annually based on measurable outcomes. Sharing our plans will improve our coordination and coherence of effort, enabling Allies to discuss collective progress and challenges. Allies can choose to incorporate lessons learned and best practices in developing and implementing plans nationally, across the Alliance, or in other settings.
   
• Deliver critical capabilities urgently: Reaffirm our strong commitment and take action to deliver the most critical capabilities required in the short term, consistent with the defence planning process, to execute NATO’s defence plans. In doing so, Allies will also remain fully committed to supporting Ukraine with a renewed sense of urgency. Our initial focus will include battle decisive munitions and air and missile defence. Allies will report on progress through established processes.
   
• Increase large scale, multinational procurement: Drive more joint procurement including through multinational programmes, in accordance with national plans. Joint procurement is at the heart of bolstering interoperability and interchangeability and delivers better value for money. Seek to make greater use of existing, tried and tested frameworks, including those offered by the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA), and open national framework contracts for participation by other Allies, where feasible.
   
• Accelerate adoption of new technologies: Harness the considerable potential of our small- and medium-sized enterprises, and speed up our development and adoption of new technologies, in partnership with the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA), Allied Command Transformation’s Innovation Hub, and the NATO Innovation Fund. 
   
• Enhance cooperation with Ukraine: Support Ukraine and its defence industrial base by fostering and expanding defence cooperation between Allies and the Ukrainian defence industry to the fullest extent.
   
• Enhance cooperation with NATO partners: To bolster defence industry, continue to take mutual steps with the European Union to strengthen coherence and complementarity of respective efforts and relevant work. Seek to enhance our defence industrial cooperation through focused dialogue with engaged partners including, among others, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea.
   
• Reinforce our commitment to NATO standards and enhance interoperability and interchangeability: Accelerate the updating and development of standards within NATO, and implementation within nations, including through more systematic engagement with industry and a focus on new areas such as digital standards. Implementation of NATO standards is the prerequisite for interoperability, and for interchangeability of munitions. NATO Defence Ministers will review progress regularly, starting at their next meeting and  agree necessary measures to increase and strengthen the implementation of standards.
   
• Protect our defence-critical supply chains: Take action to foster the responsiveness, strength, resilience and security of supply chains to protect our industries and ensure that the Alliance develops military capabilities free from the hostile influence of potential adversaries. We will ensure the protection of our strategic supply chains from disruption.