U.S. plans to cut fighter jets, warships for NATO in Europe

The United States plans to reduce the aircraft and warships it makes available for NATO operations in Europe, according to a New York Times report published on Thursday, marking the most detailed disclosure yet of Washington's effort to scale back the military protection it has provided European allies for decades.

Scope of the Cuts

The plan, outlined in a document shared with allies in early June and described by two senior European officials, includes cutting the number of F-16 and F-15E fighter jets from roughly 150 to 100, reducing maritime reconnaissance aircraft from 26 to 15, and eliminating all eight aerial refueling tanker jets previously made available to Europe. The United States also aims to redeploy a missile-launching submarine and an aircraft carrier, along with several warships and scores of jets attached to carrier missions. One of two groups of bombers previously assigned for Europe's defense may also be reallocated.openthemagazine+2

The reductions would limit NATO's ability to conduct long-range strikes and surveillance operations, including monitoring Russian submarine activity. Reuters had reported in May that Washington was preparing to shrink the pool of military capabilities available to NATO during a crisis, and the German news outlet Spiegel first detailed some of the cuts after a closed-door meeting in Brussels where US envoy Alexander Velez-Green briefed NATO members.internazionale+4

NATO's Response

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart confirmed the plans, with the US European Command stating that Washington would "rightsize" its contributions to the NATO force model as part of a broader burden-sharing approach under the 2026 National Defense Strategy and a vision for "NATO 3.0". Officials said the changes were coordinated over several months with NATO structures and are intended to encourage greater contributions from European members.openthemagazine

The cuts come at a fraught moment for European defense. France and Germany recently abandoned the fighter jet portion of their Future Combat Air System project, a roughly $116 billion program that was meant to produce a next-generation combat aircraft by 2040. The collapse, attributed largely to tensions between Airbus and Dassault ↗ 0.00%, has raised fresh questions about Europe's ability to fill gaps left by the American drawdown.foxnews

A Broader Pattern

The NATO reductions are part of a wider pattern under the Trump administration of shrinking America's military footprint in Europe. The Pentagon announced in late April it would pull some 5,000 troops from Germany, and President Trump told reporters the US plans on "cutting a lot further". The Wall Street Journal News Corp ↗ 0.62% reported that the Pentagon is scaling back US forces planned for Europe by one-third to one-half overall.wsj+1

The proposed cuts leave European allies facing difficult questions about how quickly they can develop the capabilities — from aerial refueling to maritime surveillance — that Washington is withdrawing.