NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte announced a critical raw materials initiative on July 7, 2026, at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum held in Ankara. The project brings together 12 NATO members—Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey—to strengthen defense supply chain resilience. The initiative focuses on the procurement, storage, transportation, and management of critical raw materials, components, and recycled products essential for defense manufacturing.

Designated as the High Visibility Project (HVP), this multilateral initiative represents a key component of NATO members' strategy to reinforce defense industrial infrastructure. Rutte emphasized the initiative's strategic importance, stating that "our defense must remain ready and strong, which requires our industrial base and supply chains to be resilient." The project reflects member states' commitment to reducing vulnerabilities in strategic supply chains and ensuring more secure and stable access to critical raw materials through enhanced cooperation.

The defense industry depends on critical raw materials including rare earth elements, titanium, aluminum, copper, and various alloys throughout its production processes. Supply chains for these materials are vulnerable to geopolitical tensions, trade restrictions, and global supply disruptions. Recent years have highlighted the fragility of global supply chains, creating serious concerns for defense sector strategic autonomy and operational continuity. NATO members have adopted a coordinated approach to minimize these risks and establish a resilient ecosystem through shared resource management and collaborative practices.

The NATO 3.0 strategic approach is based on the United States redirecting resources from conventional defense support in Europe toward the Western Hemisphere and Indo-Pacific regions. Within this framework, European members are expected to assume greater responsibility for defense burden-sharing. The critical raw materials supply initiative represents a crucial step for Europe to enhance defense industrial independence and strengthen production capacity in this new strategic environment. The project enables members to increase defense production capabilities through joint investment and resource sharing.

Turkish defense industry, represented by major organizations such as ASELSAN, ROKETSAN, TUSAŞ, Baykar, and MKE, is rapidly developing in the region. Strengthening the critical raw materials supply chain presents a significant opportunity for these companies to increase localization rates and accelerate research and development activities. Coordinated procurement and shared inventory management among NATO members can reduce production costs for Turkish defense industry products and expand export potential. Additionally, the stable raw materials access provided through the project will play an important role in meeting Turkey's regional defense requirements and developing products to NATO standards.