Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby announced on X Tuesday that the Defense Department had “kicked off” the review Hegseth unveiled during the NATO defense ministerial in Brussels on June 18. Hegseth described the effort at the time as “a real review” of America’s force posture and basing in Europe.

Neither Hegseth’s announcement nor Colby’s statement announced troop reductions, unit movements or installation changes as part of the review. The Pentagon also has not said when the review’s recommendations will be released.

The review follows repeated calls by Trump administration officials for European allies to assume greater responsibility for NATO’s conventional defense as the administration reassesses U.S. force posture worldwide.

Hegseth said the review is expected to take up to six months, but it “could be less.” He shared that the review will include input from U.S. European Command as well as consultations with Congress and U.S. allies.

Colby said the review is designed to ensure NATO is “moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe taking primary responsibility for its conventional defense.” He explained the outcome of the review is intended to accelerate NATO’s transition to what he described as “a stronger, more equitable, and sustainable alliance.”

The Pentagon review aims to ensure U.S. force posture in Europe reflects the 2025 National Security Strategy and the 2026 National Defense Strategy. Colby said the department will develop a range of options based on “strategic rigor, a strong empirical baseline, and a clear sense of the geopolitical and military realities.”

Colby also said he looks forward to working closely with Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, on the review. He noted that the Defense Department plans to have “extensive consultations” with European allies, Congress and other parts of the U.S. government throughout the process.

The team, dubbed Task Force Talon Synapse, is slated to launch in the “coming weeks,” according to a Tuesday release, and will focus on incorporating AI applications into intelligence support, protecting critical infrastructure and monitoring the regional security environment.

“This will be a historic milestone as we work with one of our most capable regional partners to rapidly deliver evolving AI advancements to our warfighters,” Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander, said in the statement.

“Together, we and our Emirati partners share a strong commitment to adopting AI applications that will foster innovation at speed and scale,” he continued.

The Abu Dhabi-based unit will be made up of around 20 American and Emirati personnel with AI, data and cybersecurity expertise, the announcement says.

The task force’s creation was discussed last year by Cooper and UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed al-Nahyan, per the release.

During a trip to the region last month, CENTCOM and AI industry leaders gathered together as well.

For almost a decade, the UAE has strived to accelerate its defenses with AI capabilities through collaborations, like with Anduril to coproduce advanced autonomous drones.

In March 2025, the White House hosted al-Nahyan, who views adopting artificial intelligence as a national responsibility. The talks focused on bilateral relations between the two countries, AI and emerging technology, according to a UAE release at the time of the official visit.

Neutral Austria’s armed forces have for decades served mainly as a kind of civil protection force, assisting the emergency services during natural disasters such as floods and wildfires, or performing border patrols to intercept illegal immigrants rather than stop advancing foreign troops.

The country has for years been trying to strengthen and better equip its military, which the authorities have long said would be unable to defend the homeland against serious attack by an outside power.

“The security conditions have changed fundamentally in the past years, months and weeks. The dream of a lasting peace in Europe shattered at the latest with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine,” Chancellor Christian Stocker told a press conference at a military barracks outside Salzburg.

New threats have also emerged including hybrid attacks and cyberwarfare, he said while standing alongside the leaders of the two other ruling parties after a cabinet meeting.

“These developments show clearly that Austria must take charge to a greater extent of its own capabilities for self-reliance and protection of the population,” he added.

Austria is surrounded by eight countries, all but two of which — western neighbors Switzerland and Liechtenstein — are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It borders Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Italy and Slovenia to the south, and Slovakia and Hungary to the east.

Austrian boys and men currently have the choice, usually around their 18th birthday, between military service and a nine-month civilian alternative in which they typically work at institutions such as an ambulance service or retirement home.

The government said it planned to make it possible to extend so-called civil service by two months on a voluntary basis.

It also plans to switch to a reservist model for military service in which conscripts must carry out follow-up exercises within 10 years of their initial service. To make military service more attractive, perks are planned, such as holiday days and almost doubling pay to 1,000 euros ($1,140) a month.

Making those changes will, however, require passing legislation with a two-thirds majority in parliament, for which the government needs the support of the opposition Greens or the far-right Freedom Party. Those talks have yet to start.

Admiral, who currently serves as the commander of III Corps and Fort Hood, Texas, could take over the top job from Gen. Christopher Donahue, who unexpectedly relinquished command earlier this month after only 18 months in the role. Since Donahue’s exit, Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie has been serving as acting commander.

If confirmed, Admiral would also serve as commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, coordinating with 104 countries in USAREUR-AF’s area of responsibility. He would remain a three-star, despite the role previously being a four-star position.

Prior to leading III Corps and Fort Hood, Admiral served as the commanding general for the 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas, and in Poland, and director of force management in the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, according to his official Army bio.

Donahue’s early July departure came amid the Pentagon’s broad senior leadership changes under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who in April asked U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George to step down and retire ahead of the typical four-year term.

Since taking office, Hegseth has removed more than a dozen senior military leaders, including former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. C.Q. Brown and former Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti.

Eve Sampson contributed to this report.

Lorenzo Mariani, Leonardo’s CEO and General Manager, said: “The introduction of the M-346F in Indonesia provides clear evidence not only of the aircraft system’s inherent quality, but also of the country’s continued and yet growing trust in our capabilities across domains.”

Leonardo said the sale “includes the localization of a range of support, maintenance, overhaul and training capabilities, as well as human capital development.”

The Italian-built M-346 is well known as an advanced jet trainer, but the F variant is a dedicated, multirole, light fighter. It has an active electronically scanned array radar, Link 16 data link, seven hardpoints for carrying weapons, aerial refueling capability and electronic countermeasures system.

The first M-346s should be handed over to Jakarta in 2030. This will make Indonesia the 23rd operator of the M-346, but the first Asian customer of the newest Block 20 variant.

“Just eight months after the first order, strong and rapid global demand for the latest version of the aircraft clearly demonstrates it is meeting customer requirements,” reads a Leonardo statement. The firm said the M-346 has logged 170,000+ flight hours to date.

Indonesia is currently inducting Dassault’s Rafale fighter, but the air force maintains a hotchpotch fleet that includes the American F-16, Russian Su-27/Su-30 and Korean T-50i.

Jakarta invested in the Korean KF-21’s development, and it has also professed devotion to the Turkish Kaan. However, neither has resulted in production contracts yet. Indonesia’s defense minister has also expressed a desire for the Chinese J-10.

If all these aspirations came true, Indonesia would end up operating perhaps the world’s most complicated and varied fleet of combat aircraft.

“The Indonesian Armed Forces have been facing existing challenges related to interoperability,” Alban Sciascia, director of consultancy firm PT Semar Sentinel Indonesia, told Defense News. “It’s no secret that Indonesia has been focusing on procuring different equipment from different countries, as part of its diversification strategy, and that its joint operations concept is limited because of the relative inability to get all this equipment interoperating on the battlefield.”

Meanwhile, Leonardo, PT ESystem Solutions and the Indonesian Ministry of Defense also signed a letter of intent on July 21 for the prospective procurement of Leonardo AW149 medium helicopters for the Indonesian Navy.

“If followed by a contract, this could lead to the supply of AW149 helicopters for search and rescue and disaster relief, for both land-based and embarked operations,” Leonardo said in a statement.

The navy currently operates eleven Airbus AS565 Panther helicopters, but as guardian of the world’s largest archipelagic waters, it has a requirement for more shipboard helicopters.

Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pointed to the kill at a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing while being asked about a three-year halt in U.S. air-defense funding.

“I want to highlight the incredible work the Ukraine industrial base is doing as they scale their own capabilities,” Caine said.

“Recently we had the first air-to-air kill where a Ukrainian F-16 shot down a Russian fighter, so I think their ability to scale their layered defense has come a long way over the last couple of years.”

Although Caine did not specify which type of Russian aircraft was taken out, Ukraine’s Air Force announced earlier this month that it had shot down a Russian Su-35 on the eastern front.

Until now, Ukraine has primarily used its F‑16s to defensively knock down incoming drones and cruise missiles — not offensively hunting enemy aircraft. The air-to-air kill is the latest example of Kyiv’s rapidly expanded air defense network forged after persevering through years of full-scale war, Caine said.

Russia’s defense ministry has not acknowledged the loss. Pro-Russian military bloggers on Telegram confirmed a Su-35 went down and said the pilot survived and ejected safely, while other Russian channels claimed a Patriot battery delivered the fatal shot.

Ukraine’s F-16s have shot down 2,200 of roughly 3,000 Russian drones and missiles it has intercepted, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told Dutch broadcaster NOS earlier this month.

The kills are in spite of the technical advantages favoring Russia’s Su-35 over Ukraine’s F-16s.

Most of it’s F‑16s were given to Kyiv by the Netherlands and Denmark, who sent rebuilt 1970s‑ and 1980s‑era F‑16A and B airframes — closer to the F‑16s that the U.S. Air Force flew in the early 2000s than to today’s newer models, according to a Sandboxx analysis.

The Su‑35S is one of the most modern fighters Moscow flies and usually comes out as the winner in a long‑range fight, experts say.

Its Irbis‑E radar can detect a fighter‑sized target at up to 250 miles (400 km) in a narrow search mode, according to its Russian manufacturer, far beyond the range of the 1990s‑era AN/APG‑66(V)2 radar on Ukraine’s F‑16s.

The Su‑35 also has the advantage of carrying the longer‑reaching R‑77M missile, which Moscow credits with a range of roughly 120 miles (190 km), against the 75 to 100 miles of the AIM‑120C‑8 AMRAAMs Ukraine is known to field, according to The War Zone.

Allies have taken notice of Kyiv’s recent battlefield successes, signing billions in arms contracts with Kyiv since the war with Iran drove up demand for the latest defense tech from Europe and the Middle East.

Ukraine’s homegrown interceptor‑drone industry has scaled rapidly in the past year, with some producers now capable of turning out over 100,000 drones per month, officials say.

Washington is also inching toward a multibillion dollar weapons‑production deal with Kyiv.

The Ukrainian armed forces are “the strongest, most powerful armed forces in all of Europe,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in May, months before the CIA director confirmed last week that Russian recruits last just 20 to 30 minutes after arriving on the battlefield thanks to Ukraine’s fierce drone fighting tactics.

Drapatyi, 43, is widely seen as a reform-minded, soldier-first commander whose habit of owning failures in public made him the counterweight to Syrskyi’s centralized, old world style.

Protesters have chanted his name nightly along with the names of a handful of other popular commanders for the past week as anger over Fedorov’s removal has grown.

“It has been decided that Mykhailo Drapatyi will become the new Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Zelenskyy wrote on social media Tuesday, shortly before midnight.

“It is a fact that Oleksandr Syrskyi ensured Ukraine’s success in defending Kyiv, in the Kharkiv offensive operation, and in the Kursk operation,” he wrote. “I am grateful to Oleksandr Syrskyi and every one of our soldiers for their strong positions on the front lines. I am grateful to Mykhailo Drapatyi for his vision.”

“I thank the President of Ukraine for the trust, the Minister of Defense for the support, and the Defense Forces for a new stage of service,” the new CIC wrote on Facebook in response. “I will work responsibly, focused and with respect for the people who are defending our state today.”

Last week, Drapatyi shared support for Fedorov and reform in the military administration. “The military needs change, but without justice, no change will make sense to the people who carry this war on their shoulders every day,” he wrote.

“A commander has no right to remain silent about problems, especially when their cost is measured in lost opportunities, time, and human lives,” he added.

Fedorov welcomed the replacement, calling it “a new era and a new hope in the fight of free people for freedom and justice” on social media just minutes after Zelensky shared the long-awaited update.

In naming a commander widely seen as a reformer, Zelenskyy has answered a war-weary nation and may have defused the gravest domestic crisis of his wartime presidency, even as the fate of Fedorov, the ousted minister the protests began over, remains unsettled.

“Removing Fedorov = helping the Russians”

It began as a cabinet reshuffle.

When Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down at Zelenskyy’s request early last week, the move dissolved the government and forced the reappointment of every minister.

By Wednesday, it was clear Fedorov would not get his job back.

The backlash was immediate.

Col. Pavlo Yelizarov, the deputy commander of Ukraine’s air force who helped oversee the country’s defense against Russia’s nightly missile and drone barrages, resigned in protest on Thursday, writing in a Facebook post that Fedorov’s removal was “a great evil for the country’s defense capability.”

The same day, Serhii Sternenko, the drone-crowdfunding activist Fedorov had made his adviser on drone warfare, quit too.

“A lot of things did not work out, including due to bureaucratic obstacles and artificial delays on the part of those who are hindered by army reform,” he wrote on X.

Protests against the shake up erupted across the country that afternoon, spreading to more than a dozen cities and drawing thousands of people wielding signs with slogans such as “Removing Fedorov = helping the Russians” and “Don’t change what works, change for the better.”

Overnight, the protests became one of the largest public demonstrations since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine almost five years ago, second only to the anticorruption gatherings that swept the nation last summer.

While Thursday’s demonstrations began as a call to reinstate Fedorov, they broadened rapidly to include a parallel demand for the removal of Syrskyi — once the commander’s role in the former defense minister’s ousting became known.

Zelenskyy ultimately said the firing was catalyzed by a feud he could no longer manage.

“There is a difficult dialogue between the military leadership and the Defence Ministry,” he told journalists on Thursday. “It is difficult on different levels, by the way. It is not just about individuals.”

The political clash between Syrskyi and Fedorov comes to a head

The rift pitted the military’s old school against its modernizers: a Soviet-trained general running the war through a rigid chain of command, and a tech minister who built his career on digitizing the state.

Syrskyi, commander-in-chief since February 2024, organized the defense of Kyiv in the war’s opening weeks, the rapid 2022 Kharkiv counteroffensive and the 2024 incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.

But reformers faulted him for a top-down command culture inherited from the Soviet era, and some troops call him “the Butcher” over the cost of holding the city of Bakhmut.

Syrskyi responded to the political turmoil and growing accusations against his fitness for office in an op-ed in Ukrainian outlet Militarnyi on Monday.

He rejected the charge that he resisted embracing drone warfare and noted that he formulated Ukraine’s dedicated Unmanned Systems Forces as a separate military branch to formalize the tech’s importance in the war today.

He also apologized to Fedorov, saying he was “surprised to learn” the two had a conflict and that he had “perceived our relationship as a working one: with complex issues, with different positions.”

“If I offended anyone: Mykhailo Albertovich, I’m sorry. I can be harsh,” he said. “But I ask you, and everyone who is following this story with enthusiasm: let’s focus not on the personal, but on the global. On victory.”

As defense minister since only January, Fedorov oversaw Ukraine’s expansion of drone and deep-strike operations, and a war-weary public embraced the technology as its best edge against a much larger enemy.

In an independent public opinion poll conducted by international firm Gradus Research on July 16–17, found that over 60% of Ukrainians opposed Fedorov’s removal, and nearly half said they believed his ousting would weaken the country’s defense.

Fedorov is known for moving fast and iterating often.

When the reshuffle cost him his job, Fedorov preempted the president’s office by announcing his own exit and then laying out the fight behind it in a rare public airing of the government’s infighting under martial law.

Then, at a press conference the day after his firing, he said his reforms had run into “a complete blocking” by the military leadership, and that Zelenskyy had forced a choice between him and the commander.

“Instead of thinking about how to defeat Russia asymmetrically, [Syrskyi] figured out how to split the country,” Fedorov said at the event, hours before the first protesters entered city squares.

“The Flying BMP”

Drapatyi has built the opposite reputation to his predecessor, becoming generally well-liked among soldiers and civilian personnel alike for his dedication to his troops and his willingness to learn and adapt while leading under the most difficult of circumstances.

Others knew him as “The Flying BMP.”

A video of the major general plowing a blue-and-yellow-flagged BMP through a Russian roadblock during Moscow’s temporary occupation of Mariupol in 2014 went viral shortly after the city’s liberation for its brazen success. The video quickly becoming a meme for determination at all costs — and tacit understanding for Drapatyi’s own stubborn fortitude.

A career tank officer with more than two decades in uniform, he was promoted to command the Ground Forces in November 2024.

In that role, he oversaw the newly formed 155th Mechanized Brigade, also known as the “Anne of Kyiv Brigade,” that became the first Ukrainian brigade trained and equipped completely by a Western ally — and that became infamous for being hit by mass desertions before it was even fully deployed.

Drapatyi admitted that the failures of the 155th came from Ukraine’s own recruitment and training, not the French exchange program, and pushed for reforms across the military establishment as a result.

His tenure hit its biggest and final challenge later that year, when a Russian Iskander missile struck a training ground in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, killing 12 soldiers and wounding more than 60.

Russia had been hitting rear training grounds all year, killing troops far from the front and forcing negligence investigations into why they were still massed in the open, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Although the Ground Forces command reported that most personnel had reached shelters and that no troops were massed in formation, the official account failed to adequately explain how — if the troops were securely in their bunkers — so many could be killed.

Drapatyi took responsibility for the deaths, saying his orders to disperse and take shelter were not carried out, making him an ineffective leader. He resigned as Ground Forces commander.

“An army where no one is responsible for the losses is dying from within,” he said at the time.

Zelenskyy rejected the resignation and refused to let him leave the military, instead moving him out of the Ground Forces within days into the reconfigured Joint Forces Command, a step framed as allowing him to focus on frontline operations.

There, units like the well-known Khartiia Brigade retook ground around Kupiansk, according to Euromaidan Press.

Just six months later, his standing had grown to the point that protesters across the country were chanting his name in the week before his appointment, often right alongside Fedorov’s.

Fedorov’s fate still unknown

Fedorov welcomed Drapatyi’s appointment as “a voice of change that could not be ignored,” adding that he had also called Syrskyi to thank him for defending Ukraine.

Where Syrskyi goes next is uncertain.

“My job is war. Strategy, front, people,” he wrote in Monday’s column. “This is what I do and will continue to do.”

Fedorov’s fate also remains unknown.

He has said he will return only as defense minister, and he turned down another post, one focused on military technology and modernizing the ministry, according to the anonymous sources speaking to Kyiv Independent.

Zelenskyy said Tuesday that he would formalize Drapatyi’s appointment Wednesday, and that more decisions were still to come.

Fedorov, for his part, is waiting.

“We need to move even faster and write new chapters, correcting all previous mistakes,” Fedorov said after Drapatyi’s appointment.

And it may accompany fighter jets, but no pilot will ever buckle themselves into a seat in the cockpit of a Boeing MQ-28 Ghost Bat.

Australia’s flight-ready uncrewed aircraft made its Farnborough International Airshow debut this week, the static display representing what the company this month said was the first collaborative combat aircraft, or CCA, to participate in a multinational, joint operational exercise.

The Ghost Bat in June soared alongside crewed aircraft around the Marinas Island Range Complex in the Western Pacific as part of Exercise Valiant Shield 2026. According to Boeing, the CCA participated as F-35A, F-35B and other crewed coalition jets honed tactics.

The aircraft were included with U.S. Pacific Command forces to support the U.S. Air Force’s Experimental Operation Unit.

“Having MQ-28 participate in such a significant military training exercise is a first, and this is just the start of demonstrating how advanced human-machine teaming extends the reach and awareness of crewed platforms and enhances joint force operations,” Steve Parker, the president and chief executive officer of Boeing Defense, Space and Security, said in a release. “We’ve proven that it’s combat capable.”

The integrated exercise came after the Ghost Bat successfully completed a live fire demonstrating, shooting an AIM-120 AMRAAM missile to destroy a drone.

With a range of more than 2,000 nautical miles, the Ghost Bat was designed to support crewed jets by performing missions like surveillance and electronic warfare.

The aircraft has “length of a trainer and the full wingspan of a modern stealth fighter,” according to Boeing, and it can reach a ceiling of over 40,000 feet.

For years, industry leaders have seen autonomous aircraft as a market primed for potential growth, as experts push for crewed-uncrewed teaming as a key difference maker in beating a near-peer rival like China.

This year, some companies took that a step further, as they prepare for an era of air combat characterized by unmanned aerial systems — like the Ghost Bat.

Betting on the need for future crew to manage drone wingmen — fleets of drones under human command — BAE Systems unveiled a helmet to help pilots manage more data than ever before.

The U.S. Air Force has also introduced incorporating uncrewed aircraft into missions, and in June it awarded CCA contracts to Anduril, for its FQ-44A “Fury,” and General Atomics, for its FQ-42A.

Models of both were on display at the airshow.

The U.K.’s biggest defense company showcased a model of its new jet, Brontanax, derived from the ancient Greek words for thunder and king, at the Farnborough Airshow. It is about the size of a Hawk trainer and would be ready to start flight testing next year, BAE said.

As the global threat level rises and western nations re-arm, defense chiefs say the lesson from the Ukraine war is clear: nations need to control the skies to avoid Ukrainian-style attritional trench warfare and that requires air forces to bulk up.

BAE enters an increasingly crowded market for so-called Collaborative Combat Aircraft, with Airbus, Boeing, Anduril and General Atomics among a growing number of companies competing for business at Farnborough in a sector expected to expand rapidly.

Often described as “loyal wingmen,” CCAs are designed to fly alongside piloted aircraft and are expected to cost roughly a third as much as a traditional fighter jet.

Crowded marketplace

Britain’s new Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who was appointed on Monday, said it was a “groundbreaking moment.”

“We will adopt this as our operational concept demonstrator, and we’re going to get it in the air in 2027,” he said at the airshow.

BAE has invested hundreds of millions of pounds in its CCA, pushing ahead without the government co-investment which usually underpins new platforms.

“We’ve put our money where our mouth is,” CEO Charles Woodburn told Reuters.

“We could see where the market was going,” he added, saying he hopes to secure a U.K. order, and that other countries in Europe and the Middle East could follow, with some already showing an interest.

BAE has developed Brontanax alongside the Royal Air Force, in a project dating back to 2022, and already has a fully assembled aircraft at its Warton facility in northwest England. It could enter service by 2030, BAE said.

That timeline compares to Boeing’s MQ-28 Ghost Bat, on display at Farnborough, which has already started flight testing, and could be flying for Australia by 2028.

BAE said its CCA offered more stealth than rivals and it was aiming for it to have 70% to 80% of the capabilities of a fighter jet and to come in at under 25% of the cost, which could give it a price tag of around $25 million.

Its open architecture and modular design will allow software upgrades and changes to easily be made, with BAE looking at non-military suppliers to help with the build.

Britain said in its defense investment plan earlier in July that it would spend an initial £300 million ($401 million) to launch a sovereign CCA program it has named Storm Fighter.

The leaders in Paris and Berlin had formed a “nuclear steering group” in March to coordinate the countries’ closer integration in atomic strategic matters. It is part of a major French doctrinal shift billed as “forward deterrence,” in which France promises to extend its nuclear umbrella to other countries in Europe.

Germany was among the first to sign up for the new scheme four months ago. A total of nine countries spanning from Norway to Greece have joined the initiative so far.

Speaking to the press alongside French president Emmanuel Macron on Jul. 17, German chancellor Friedrich Merz officially confirmed reports that Germany would be participating in upcoming French nuclear exercises with its own conventional forces.

The exercise has been identified as the French “Poker” maneuver, which is set to take place in September, Politico reported.

Additionally, Macron said that for the first time ever, a French nuclear-capable Rafale jet had been temporarily hosted at a German air base − specifically at Nörvenich near Cologne, where the Franco-German Defence and Security Council met on Jul. 17.

A day earlier, French Rafales had been refuelled while airborne alongside German Eurofighters in a symbolic kickoff to the two countries’ nuclear strategic cooperation.

The meeting at Nörvenich was the first major high-level defense meeting since the collapse of the joint Future Combat Air System, or FCAS, project that has caused a strain in relations and bad blood between French and German defense contractors.

Nonetheless, the attitude the leaders presented to the press was forward-looking and cooperative.

“We are charting a new, shared course in deterrence,” Merz said, though he also emphasized that he did not want it to be seen as competition to NATO nuclear sharing, but rather as a supplement to it.

“This complements our commitment to NATO’s nuclear sharing and deterrence arrangements, which we continue to uphold,” Merz said.

Under NATO’s current, U.S.-led nuclear sharing arrangement, Germany hosts American nuclear bombs on its soil and operates dual-capable aircraft able to deliver the weapons to their targets if the U.S. president authorizes their use. Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey similarly host U.S. nuclear bombs.

While sovereignty over the weapons and all decision-making related to the use of the bombs will remain in Paris under the new doctrine, conventional tasks may be taken on by Germany and other allies under the forward deterrence scheme. It may also see French fighter jets operating out of other European countries’ air bases.

Macron said he saw Germany as playing a “vanguard role” in European deterrence.

France is the only European Union country with its own nuclear arsenal following the U.K.’s departure from the bloc in 2020. Alongside announcing the new forward deterrence strategy in March, Macron also announced that his country would increase its nuclear stockpile, contributing to a larger trend of unraveling longtime effective Cold War-era arms control arrangements and nuclear restraint.

The steering group will continue to work out details for how Germany will fit into the picture of French nuclear deterrence going forward, including determining avenues for collaboration and what forces could be used.

From the French side, inviting Germany into the fold would entail “explaining some aspects of how we operate, sharing certain closely held practices, offering joint exercises, developing joint initiatives and partnerships and fostering greater … trust among our teams, experts and military personnel,” Macron said in Nörvenich.