The U.S. plans to significantly reduce its military contributions to NATO in a crisis, including fighter jets, warships, and submarines, according to reports from Der Spiegel and Reuters. The move, disclosed in a classified briefing by a U.S. envoy, would slash the number of U.S. fighter jets available to NATO by a third and withdraw destroyers and submarines from the alliance's pool. Europe would be responsible for maintaining its own supply of reconnaissance drones, a key asset in modern warfare.
The U.S. also intends to provide only half the previous number of strategic bombers and scale back the provision of armed reconnaissance drones. The changes would gut the NATO Force Model, a framework established in 2022 to outline military commitments from member states in the event of a conflict in Europe.
The U.S. will provide further details at a force generation conference in early June. The Trump administration has previously criticized European allies for insufficient military spending and has pledged to withdraw thousands of troops from Germany. Tensions have also risen over Trump's comments about withdrawing from NATO and questioning U.S. obligations under the alliance's mutual defense pact.