Defense alliance is the essential bridge between the private-sector Defense Industrial Base and Federal acquisition requirements and priorities. Our mission is to accelerate business development for technology innovations that support national security and our warfighters.
Today’s threat environment is more complex and unpredictable than at any time since the end of the Cold War. This requires the Alliance to be ready to preserve peace today, while being prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.
Russia’s war against Ukraine and growing geopolitical competition are reinforcing NATO’s need to adapt for a new era of collective defence. At the 2022 Madrid and 2023 Vilnius Summits, Allies agreed significant steps to improve their deterrence and defence, including by deploying four multinational battlegroups to NATO’s eastern flank in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia; increasing the size of the Alliance’s force structure; and stepping up cyber defences.
Allies also agreed to modernise their defence industry and capabilities, accelerating procurement and production, and enhancing interoperability. At the 2024 Washington Summit, Allies welcomed the progress made since Vilnius on strengthening NATO for a new era of collective defence.
This includes the Allies’ commitment to increase defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2024, with nine out of 29 NATO members meeting this target – and seven of those countries are close to Russia, which has historically invested more than the rest of NATO combined. They have also agreed to set a further goal of 1.5% of GDP on infrastructure and other security projects by 2035.