NATO just committed €200 million to build a secure cloud backbone. Accenture and Italy’s Leonardo snagged the contract. It’s a seven-year deal and one of NATO’s biggest digital bets.
The program, dubbed Protected Business Network, will create a single classified cloud. Roughly 29,000 NATO users will share data and coordinate across every domain. The platform runs on multi-cloud setups and is designed to resist attacks aiming to knock it offline.
Leonardo brings a Zero Trust security design and an AI multi-agent platform for cyber defense. Notably, the contracts went to Accenture’s EMEA division and Leonardo — avoiding U.S. contractors. This follows concerns over U.S. control of frontier AI, a hot topic at the Ankara summit.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte stressed the alliance’s need for a resilient supply chain and stable access to critical materials. “Nato’s industrial base and supply chain must be resilient and secure for the alliance to remain ready and strong,” he said. Rutte highlighted cooperation among allies to manage defense-critical materials and stockpiles as essential.
Alongside the cloud project, NATO unveiled hefty defense spending and missile initiatives. Twelve member states including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey are involved. They agreed to spend $50 billion over the next decade on new ground-based “deep precision strike capabilities.”
The missile program includes an advanced weapon with a 1,250-mile range. Britain, France, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Greece, Czechia, Slovakia, Turkey, and Canada are partners. Britain is also rolling out a multi-billion-dollar effort with Germany to develop long-range stealth and hypersonic missiles. Separately, Britain collaborates with France and Italy on Stratus, a family of long-range cruise and anti-ship weapons.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer framed this push as a step toward a “stronger, more European NATO.” “This U.K.-led initiative will allow us to step up our cooperation,” he said, underlining the need to defend and deter far from the frontline.
British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper sent a clear message to Russia. “At Ankara we are sending a clear message to President Putin; NATO is stronger, more European and ready to defend our citizens,” she said, citing the long-term threat from Russia.
The summit also zeroed in on burden-sharing and military spending pledges. NATO is sharpening its focus on defense projects, digital resilience, and missile capabilities to counter emerging threats from Russia and China.
Based on
- NATO taps Accenture and Leonardo to build a €200M secure cloud backbone — thenextweb.com
- Trump turns on Spain and demands Greenland as NATO summit exposes cracks – The Japan Times — japantimes.co.jp
- Nato launches defence projects to counter Russia and China | South China Morning Post — scmp.com
- European NATO states team up to develop new long-range ballistic missile – UPI.com — upi.com
- Saab to build up to 10 surveillance planes using Canadian jets — ctvnews.ca
