U.S. plans to slash fighter jets, warships it provides to NATO in Europe: report
MULTILATERAL ORGANISATIONS
13 JUNE 2026
- The United States plans to slash the number of fighter jets and warships it provides to NATO in Europe,.
- The reported cutbacks come as European nations race to bolster their defence capacities since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sparked fears that Moscow could attack a NATO country.
- U.S. President Donald Trump has called the alliance a “paper tiger” and its members “cowards” in frustration that they have not joined the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.
- Washington plans to reduce the number of fighter jets it supplies to Europe by one third, cut all eight aerial refuelling tankers and reduce maritime reconnaissance aircraft.
- Other assets to be reallocated include a missile-launching submarine, an aircraft carrier, a group of bomber aircraft and several jets and warships.
- The U.S. European Command said this month that it would reassess Washington’s contributions to NATO to “ensure Europe takes primary responsibility for its own conventional defence”.
- The 32-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation was founded in 1949 and its collective security is based on the principle that if one member is attacked, the entire alliance comes to its defence.
