By LORNE COOK, SUZAN FRASER and ABBY SEWELL<\/p>\n
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) \u2014 NATO on Tuesday showcased a series of military projects worth billions of dollars in an attempt to convince President Donald Trump<\/a> that U.S. allies are converting fresh defense spending<\/a> into real firepower.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s money well spent,\u201d an energized NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told government ministers and defense industry officials on the sidelines of a summit in Turkey. He was speaking at a defense industry forum billed as NATO\u2019s \u201cbig reveal,\u201d to the thrum of techno music and a slick video display.<\/p>\n Trump, who is slated to arrive in Ankara later Tuesday, has branded NATO a \u201cpaper tiger\u201d<\/a> that would cease to function without American arms and leadership. <\/p>\n NATO as an organization does not own any weapons \u2014 these are the property of the 32 member countries \u2014 but it does have a fleet of 14 AWACS early warning radar surveillance planes that are about 50 years old, along with some newer surveillance drones.<\/p>\n A deal to replace the aging planes was announced Tuesday. Swedish manufacturer Saab will be supplying up to 10 new GlobalEye surveillance aircraft for a 10-nation consortium, Sweden\u2019s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a moment of great pride,\u201d he said, noting that the twin-engine aircraft would be \u201cmade within the alliance for all the alliance.\u201d <\/p>\n Some of the projects will be paid for with funds from a system of cheap loans<\/a> for defense purposes set up by the European Union, comprising up to $170 billion raised on capital markets.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to ensure that we are translating our economic might into military capabilities, putting the cash to work from defense plans to drones, from money to missiles and interceptors,\u201d Rutte said.<\/p>\n Defense sales announced<\/p>\n Representatives from 15 nations shook hands and patted shoulders on a vast podium under the NATO logo as they announced a multinational effort to buy air-to-air refueling and transport planes from Airbus.<\/p>\n Then Rutte announced a four-country effort to purchase as many as five new Triton surveillance drones to add to NATO\u2019s small fleet. <\/p>\n \u201cIt is genuinely made in NATO, and creating jobs on both sides of the Atlantic,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Rutte told reporters on the eve of the military alliance\u2019s two-day summit in Turkey<\/a> that \u201cwe will announce tens of billions in new contracts that will provide the crucial kit we need to deter and defend.\u201d<\/p>\n However, at Tuesday\u2019s event, no dollar figures were given and the display included some projects long since agreed. <\/p>\n The defense industry splash comes a few weeks after Rutte tried to ease U.S. concerns about military spending at NATO with a new pitch<\/a> using a chart labeled the \u201cThe Trump Trillion\u201d \u2014 showing $1.2 trillion in spending by European allies and Canada since 2017.<\/p>\n Far from being impressed, Trump appeared unmoved, saying he was still disappointed at some NATO allies\u2019 refusal to join the Iran war<\/a>, which he had launched alongside Israel without consulting them.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t need their money \u2014 we don\u2019t need anything,\u201d Trump said. \u201cI just want loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n Debate over jet sales to Turkey<\/p>\n The summit is being held in President Recep Tayyip Erdogan\u2019s<\/a> sprawling palace compound in Ankara and Trump has suggested he would come bearing gifts for the Turkish leader.<\/p>\n Speaking Monday on the morning show \u201cFox & Friends,\u201d Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> urged the U.S. not to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, saying that Erdogan \u201ccalls openly for the annihilation of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n Turkey and Israel have acrimonious relations. Erdogan frequently accuses Israel of committing genocide in its war in Gaza, triggered by the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel.<\/p>\n Turkey was barred from the F-35 program in 2019, after it purchased Russian-made S-400<\/a> missile defense systems. However, Trump, who has warm relations with Erdogan, has hinted ahead of his planned visit to Ankara that the sales could soon resume.<\/p>\n Netanyahu said selling Turkey F-35s would \u201cupset the power balance in the Middle East, which is ultimately guaranteed by Israeli air superiority and also, I think, by America\u2019s posture in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s Air Force depends on hundreds of U.S. fighter jets, including F-35s, F-16s and F-15s.<\/p>\n Seeking a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO<\/p>\n The focus of the summit is a stronger Europe for a stronger NATO. The Trump administration has warned the allies that they must handle Europe\u2019s security alone as the United States focuses on China and the Indo-Pacific region.<\/p>\n The Pentagon wants a reboot and is promoting what it calls \u201cNATO 3.0,\u201d a vision of the alliance in which Europe assumes greater responsibility for its own defense, freeing the U.S. to concentrate on other priorities.<\/p>\n But hiking defense spending means increasing taxes or diverting resources from other priorities. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey unexpectedly quit<\/a> last month, saying the British government was not willing to spend at a time of rising threats.<\/p>\n Concern is mounting among some northern and central eastern countries that Russia might be preparing a hybrid attack \u2014 a combination of conventional warfare with tactics like cyberattacks \u2014 on the continent as Russian President Vladimir Putin<\/a> struggles to secure victory in Ukraine.<\/a><\/p>\n Keir Starmer\u2019s office said the British leader will be \u201cfocused on building a stronger and more European NATO\u201d on what is likely to be his last foreign trip as prime minister.<\/p>\n