At NATO’s Ankara summit, a coalition led by the UK pledged £37 billion, or about $50 billion, for long-range precision strike weapons under the ELSA framework and related European missile programs.
A coalition of NATO members led by the UK pledged £37 billion, roughly $50 billion, at the alliance’s Ankara summit to develop long-range precision strike weapons able to hit targets up to 2,000 kilometers away. The effort sits under the European Long Range Strike Approach, or ELSA, which is intended to strengthen Europe’s ability to carry out deep-strike missions with less reliance on Washington. The group named in the new commitment includes the UK, France, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands and Sweden. The program also pulls together bilateral arrangements already underway, including UK-Germany and UK-France cooperation on precision munitions. One weapon expected to emerge is MBDA Stratus, described as a successor to the Storm Shadow cruise missile, with MBDA, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin involved. Keir Starmer was set to formally unveil the commitment on July 7-8, 2026. The Ankara summit also featured a Polish announcement of a European PAC-3 Patriot missile maintenance center and an expansion of AMRAAM missile production capacity across several European countries. The broader push reflects Europe’s effort to improve strike depth and sustainment inside the region as NATO members respond to heightened security demands and seek to reduce dependence on U.S. servicing and supply chains.