NATO chief calls for 400% increase in alliance’s air defence, citing threat from Russia

NATO chief Mark Rutte will be seeking a “quantum leap” in defence capacities including a “400 per cent increase” in air and missile defence spending to “protect” the alliance nations in case of any aggression from Russia.

“We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies,” NATO Secretary General Rutte is scheduled to say in a speech to the Chatham House think tank in London on Monday, as per the comments released in a statement.

Russia will remain an imminent threat to NATO even if there is peace in Ukraine, and hence the Western alliance needs to increase its air and missiles defences by 400%, Rutte, the head of the organisation, will say on Monday.

‘We need a quantum leap in our collective defence’

“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence,” he was to say.

“We must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. Our militaries also need thousands more armoured vehicles and tanks, millions more artillery shells,” Rutte will say in his appeal.

“NATO has to become a stronger, fairer and more lethal alliance,” he will add.

Rutte will meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday ahead of his speech, their second Downing Street talks since Starmer came into power in July 2024.

Last week, Britain announced plans to build up to 12 nuclear-powered attack submarines and six munitions factories to rearm the country in response to “threats” from Russia.

The Starmer government has already pledged to increase defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by 2027.

US President Donald Trump has been coercing alliance members to announce a major hike in their military budgets.

He is pushing NATO members to raise their defence spending to five per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP), up from the current target of two per cent.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said last week in Brussels the allies were close to an agreement on the five-percent target, which could be formalised at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, later this month.

NATO members have been scrambling to bolster their defence capabilities since Russia launched its war against Ukraine in February 2022.