In the midst of the debate on the future of NATO launched by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Alliance appears to be planning a major investment: NATO wants to invest one billion euros to modernize its Awacs aircraft for airborne surveillance. This reported the spark media group in advance, citing circles of the military alliance.
According to this, the fleet of 14 Nato-owned machines with headquarters in Germany should be able to remain operational until 2035 thanks to this investment. The Awacs aircraft (abbreviated to Airborne Early Warning and Control System) are used as flying radar stations for airspace surveillance. They are used to support military operations, such as in Iraq, Libya, USA and Afghanistan in the past.
At the beginning of December, a NATO summit in London is planned. But this is overshadowed in the run-up: Macron had the Alliance before in an interview literally referred to as "brain dead" and criticized the last missed vote in important security policy decisions. He referred indirectly to the unacknowledged military offensive of the NATO partner Turkey in northern Syria, which had been made possible by an unannounced withdrawal of the United States.
Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas (SPD) spoke in response to the statements made by Macron for a "political and conceptual" development of NATO. "We need political fresh cells for this - in a process that focuses on key transatlantic issues," said Maas. For the military alliance to remain the "life insurance of Europe", NATO must adapt to current challenges and assume more European responsibility in security policy.
Two weeks before the Summit of Heads of State and Government, NATO foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday for their autumn meeting. The ministers want to decide to make space after land, air, sea and cyberspace the fifth operational area of the Alliance. Other items on the agenda include US-mandated higher defense spending, policies towards Russia and China, and disarmament agreements.