NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte speaks to reporters in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026. NATO is working to adjust its force structure as European allies take on a greater share of the continent’s conventional defense. (NATO)
NATO expects to finalize plans on a revamped alliance force structure in time for a leaders’ summit next month in Turkey as the U.S. shifts more fighting responsibility to European allies.
Allies are making progress in filling capability gaps created after the Pentagon announced cuts in the number of troops and weapons systems it will make available to Europe in the event of a crisis, Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Wednesday.
“What we are working on is to make sure that what the U.S. has been providing so far will be filled, that we fill that gap,” Rutte said. “And again, that looks very good.”
Rutte’s comments came on the eve of a ministerial meeting that will include U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
In addition to adjustments in NATO’s combat plans, allies are expected to focus on defense spending levels, which have increased across the alliance in recent years.
Hegseth will focus on the “urgent need” for NATO allies to assume primary responsibility for the conventional defense of Europe and increase defense spending levels, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Last year, NATO increased its defense spending benchmark from 2% of gross domestic product to 5%, a threshold allies are expected to reach within a decade if not sooner.
While most of the work on NATO’s force model changes is finished, some aspects still need to be debated and finalized, Rutte added.
The NATO force model outlines which nations will provide troops, aircraft, ships and other capabilities if NATO’s regional defense plans are activated during a crisis or war.
The changes affect warfighting assignments, which historically have relied heavily on assets that would be sent from the United States to Europe.
While the details of the plans and exact numbers involved in the force model are a closely kept secret, the U.S. is reducing a range of capabilities.
German news outlet Die Welt and The New York Times reported that fewer F-16 and F-15E fighter jets, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, warships and aerial refueling tankers would be made available to Europe.
Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, the head of U.S. European Command and NATO’s supreme allied commander, said a rebalancing was needed to ensure that the United States can handle simultaneous conflicts in Europe and the Pacific.
“There has been an unhealthy co-dependence in the NATO Force Model on U.S. forces,” Grynkewich said in a June 3 statement.
Rutte said the changes were expected, given the United States’ global military commitments.
