As part of new procurements announced at the Ankara summit, NATO will purchase up to five MQ-4C Tritons to complement the AGS fleet’s RQ-4Ds and enhance maritime surveillance.
Following the selection of GlobalEye for the airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) role, NATO also announced that Denmark, Finland, Germany and Norway would procure up to five MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial vehicles from Northrop Grumman. The announcement was made at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum held in Ankara, Turkey on July 7, 2026.
The aircraft will strengthen NATO’s Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) forces and complement the RQ-4Ds of the Alliance Ground Surveillance (AGS) fleet operating from Sigonella Air Base, Italy. NATO said the MQ-4C “will enhance Allied forces’ ability to detect threats early, protect maritime lines of communication and support operations in challenging regions such as the Arctic and the North.”
🆕 NATO’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance forces have become more powerful.
The alliance is adding up to 5⃣ Triton unmanned aerial vehicles to help detect threats early, protect maritime lines of communication and support Arctic operations.
🔗 https://t.co/jrSCfDfdXR#NATOsummit pic.twitter.com/VyJPJIbKHE
— NATO (@NATO) July 7, 2026
In particular, this procurement will see deep participation from European industry in what NATO describes as a “transatlantic industrial consortium”. In fact, while Northrop Grumman will build Tritos, Airbus Defense and Space and other European companies will provide the ground segment, data management services, command and control, infrastructure and mission support, the statement said.
MQ-4C Triton
The MQ-4C Triton is the U.S. Navy’s newest intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance maritime patrol asset and enhances the capabilities of the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. According to NAVAIR’s description, the aircraft is based on the U.S. Air Force’s RQ-4B Global Hawk, and its sensors are based on components (or entire systems) already deployed in DoD inventory.
The MQ-4C platform, also known as BAMS (Broad Area Maritime Surveillance), complements the P-8A Poseidon within the Navy’s family of maritime patrol and reconnaissance force systems. Aircrew leverages data fusion tools that integrate sensor data from multiple aircraft into a comprehensive network picture to help collect and process surveillance information to build an accurate threat representation.
The MQ-4C received significant updates, including an upgraded sensor suite, after synthesizing lessons learned from Triton’s initial deployment to Guam in 2020. These enhancements enhance Triton’s ability to provide persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (MISR-T) capabilities.
The MQ-4C is believed to be a type of Block 20 and Block 30 Global Hawk hybrid carrying Navy payloads including the AN/ZPY-3 Multifunction Active Sensor (MFAS) radar system. This allows Triton to cover more than 2.7 million square miles in a single mission that can last 24 hours at a time, with an operational range of 8,200 nautical miles at an altitude of more than 50,000 feet.
Expanded Strategic Airlift
As part of the new programs and acquisitions announced at the summit, a new multinational high-visibility project will include the Airbus A400M transport aircraft. The program has been launched in Belgium, Croatia, France, Poland, Spain, Turkey and the UK.
At the #NATOSummit 🇹🇷 in Ankara, Turkey, @NATO paved the way for a multinational #A400M fleet with European governments designed to address the strategic airlift capability gap between our European allies.
The goal is to establish a ‘pooling and sharing’ strategy similar to the following: pic.twitter.com/Q8loR4H1Wd— Airbus Defense (@AirbusDefence) July 7, 2026
A statement from NATO said the new program would follow the same ‘pooling and sharing’ concept as the Multinational Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) Fleet (MMF) based on the A330 MRTT. Participating countries will therefore benefit from economies of scale by jointly using aircraft and sharing costs.
The statement also said, “The Airbus A400M provides NATO and Allied forces with significantly greater operational flexibility and enables the movement of military assets across the Alliance in peace, conflict and crisis situations.” The aircraft will complement the NATO Strategic Airlift Capability (SAC) fleet of three C-17 Globemaster II aircraft based at Papa Air Base, Hungary.
NATO also announced that Finland has joined the MMF program, which currently consists of nine member countries: Finland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. The statement also mentioned that delivery is imminent. The 10th Airbus A330 MRTT brings the aircraft fleet close to its maximum of 12 aircraft.
Counter drone function
Another large-scale program announced at the summit is to invest more than $40 billion in anti-drone capabilities over the next five years. NATO said it would establish a “counterdrone marketplace to ensure that systems are NATO tested, NATO compatible and available for purchase.”
The Alliance also aims to train five times more drone operators by the end of 2027. This will be done utilizing NATO’s multinational Flight Training Europe (NFTE) initiative, the statement said.
The initiative was created in 2020 to expedite aircrew training and will reach full operational capability in 2024, with a total of 16 locations participating across eight countries. Among them, the first ones selected were the Italian International Flight Training School (IFTS) and the Pardubice Flight Training Center in the Czech Republic.
The plan will now extend to training for drone operators. Finland, France and Sweden also announced that they had joined 17 other NFTE members at the summit.
advanced space capabilities
Multinational initiatives and partnerships to develop new space-based NATO capabilities were also announced. Among them is a new multinational initiative called Hybrid Alliance Layered Operations in Space (HALO), launched by eight allies.
NATO says, “HALO will focus on integrating sovereign, state-owned and controlled military satellites into networked mega-constellations and improving connectivity.” The plan “aims to enhance the Alliance’s resilience and military advantage in space” by enabling high-speed communications, intelligence, and missile tracking while overcoming the cost, time, and coverage limitations of single-nation satellite constellations.
NATO’s STARLIFT multinational initiative has expanded with Canada becoming its 15th member. The goal is to explore “how to develop a network of launch capabilities that will help coalition forces launch assets at short notice from spaceports across the alliance,” allowing them to “respond more quickly to threats from space.”
STARLIFT will be launched in 2024, and reports of subscription proposals have also been sent to Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, German company Isar Aerospace has signed a contract with Canada’s Maritime Launch Services to secure access to Spaceport Nova Scotia’s launch infrastructure and services and improve orbital launch readiness.
Spain also becomes the 19th country to join NATO’s Persistent Surveillance in Space (APSS). Launching in 2022, the initiative has been defined as “the largest multinational investment in space-based capabilities in NATO history.”
By December 2025, APSS will achieve initial operational capability, giving commanders access to timely and relevant information for decision-making. Spain will contribute by strengthening coastal surveillance through imagery from the “Atlantic Constellation” satellite.
