NATO eyes shift away from US surveillance aircraft
Photo: NATO plans to phase out American reconnaissance aircraft (wikipedia.org)
NATO plans to stop relying on American aircraft as part of the modernization of its reconnaissance fleet, according to the French news agency La Lettre and the German news agency DPA.
According to sources within the Alliance, NATO’s future fleet of Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft will consist of planes from the Canadian company Bombardier, equipped with the GlobalEye reconnaissance system and an early warning system developed by the Swedish company Saab.
The order is expected to include up to 12 Global 6000 or Global 6500 aircraft, worth several billion dollars.
NATO initially planned to order American-made Boeing E-7A Wedgetail aircraft but abandoned that plan after the US government announced its withdrawal from the program in the summer of 2025. Germany is expected to cover the bulk of the costs.
Currently, the backbone of NATO’s reconnaissance aircraft fleet consists of Boeing planes, some of which are nearly 40 years old. These aircraft are currently used primarily to monitor the airspace over Eastern Europe.
US-NATO relations
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called NATO obsolete and threatened to withdraw from it if allies do not increase their defense spending.
Relations between the US and its European partners have sharply deteriorated since the start of the US operation against Iran.
The Trump administration has already warned of a possible withdrawal from NATO, specifically, it discussed the conditions under which the US might reconsider its membership in the Alliance.
At the same time, according to CNN, the bloc itself does not feel excessive concern in light of the US leader's threats to withdraw from the Alliance. One European official called it Groundhog Day, as the military-political bloc has already heard similar statements from Trump.
Although earlier reports in the media suggested that, due to the US threat to leave NATO, Europe had begun secretly preparing a plan that would allow it to defend itself against Russia on its own, without American troops or guarantees.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte believes that a US withdrawal from the North Atlantic Alliance is unlikely. However, he stressed that the alliance needed to strengthen itself.
