Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has urged NATO counterparts to invest in capabilities such as cybersecurity and special operations as well as reconsider their spending strategies amid tight budgets, Fedscoop reported Monday.
Dan Verton writes Hagel met with NATO defense ministers during a two-day conference in Brussels on Thursday.
“I made clear my conviction to buy readiness and to buy capability and combat power with the savings the United States military achieves through a smaller force. We expect NATO allies to do the same,†Hagel told his European counterparts.
“We must focus not only on how much we spend, but how we spend it strategically and is it effective and are we together,†Hagel added.
Hagel and Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO secretary general, have also called for increased investment in other capabilities such as precision strike weapons, command, control and communications integration and information sharing, Fedscoop reports.
Verton writes NATO is building the Alliance Ground Surveillance system around five Global Hawk vehicles, with operations scheduled to begin in 2017.
