"If NATO members fulfill their already-stated pledges to spend two percent of their GDP [gross domestic product] on defense, it could result in a $100 billion increase in spending across the Alliance," Hewson stated.
Lockheed Martin executives were optimistic about the opportunities ahead, the company chief explained.
"[W]e are seeing a new willingness… from governments around the world to increase their investments in defense. President Trump’s first budget proposes an important increase in defense spending… Leaders in Congress have also expressed their support for an increase," she said.
NATO member states are considering the shifts in US priorities and many see a greater need to shoulder more of their own defense burdens, Hewson observed.
"As Damon Wilson of the Atlantic Council has noted, there is also a 'President Trump Effect’," she pointed out.
The fiscal year 2017 military budget that just passed the US House of Representatives includes funds for many Lockheed Martin programs including the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters, C-130s military air transports and missile defense programs, Hewson added.
