NATO Is Fixing Its Cash Flow Problem. Now It Needs to Turn Money Into Munitions.

BRUSSELS—When NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte took office in 2024, his biggest challenge was getting the alliance’s European members to spend more on defense.

Now, with tens of billions of new dollars pouring into the continent’s militaries, the problem is how to quickly turn that money into potent weapons and more capable armed forces.

“A year ago was all about promises” of additional spending, Rutte told The Wall Street Journal ahead of the planned North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit in Ankara, Turkey, this week. This year “it’s about delivery,” he said.

It is a high-stakes race, with the allies caught between an increasingly belligerent and well-armed Russia to the east and, to the west, an American president who publicly questions NATO’s value and whose aides have signaled plans to scale back U.S. military commitments to Europe.

On Thursday, in a post on Truth Social, Trump complained about European military spending and said the U.S. doesn’t get “any benefit” from belonging to NATO.

During a televised Oval Office visit with Trump, Rutte touted the defense-spending increases by European allies and Canada, which he dubbed the “Trump Trillion.” His message: Europe has stepped up and responded to U.S. demands that it do more, building a NATO 3.0.

Last year, the alliance’s non-U.S. members boosted military spending by 20% over 2024 levels, to $574 billion, according to NATO. German outlays rose 24%, to $114 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, and Berlin is aiming to spend roughly $180 billion in 2029—roughly triple the 2024 level.

Already the pace and scope of Europe’s increases are threatening to outstrip defense contractors’ ability to keep up with demand for sophisticated armaments. Around $300 billion in weapons have been ordered from U.S. companies, Rutte said.

“We are basically reaching the absorption-capacity level,” Rutte said, with...

BTW, on the subject of munitions replenishment, the Pentagon publicly stated it wants $80-200 billion tax dollars to cover costs of the Iranian war including “Munitions Replenishment.”

All this Iranian “peace and prosperity” comes at a steep price for US taxpayers.

The US and Israeli estimated 10,000 bombing sorties rapidly exhausted valuable, high-end US weapon stockpiles, and $billions of tax dollars are required to restock the US arsenal for other global threats that might endanger American families.

The Pentagon has critically depleted US stockpiles of key precision-guided missiles and interceptors to defend American families due to sustained Mideast conflicts.

Replenishing US military arsenals is expected to take 1-6 years. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) highlight the depletion levels of critical US munitions.
<>Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM): At least 45% of the stockpile has been used.
<>THAAD Interceptors: At least 50% of the inventory is depleted.
<>Patriot Air Defense: Nearly 50% of the stockpile has been expended.
<>Tomahawk Missiles: Roughly 30% of the arsenal has been utilized.

Defense analysts note that ramping up arms manufacturing faces structural bottlenecks, including long lead times for specialized materials, workforce constraints, and supply chain issues. Even with expanded capacity, it will take major defense contractors—such as Lockheed Martin and RTX—several years to rebuild pre-war inventory levels earmarked to protect American families.

Homeland and Global Defense: Munition shortages have forced the Pentagon to carefully weigh deployments. For example, interceptors and air defense systems originally stationed in Asia to deter regional threats have been diverted.

Near-Term Vulnerability: The depletion of long-range capabilities poses a potential risk should a conflict arise in another theater, such as the Indo-Pacific or other theaters of aggression that endanger American families.

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