NATO announced this week that its member countries have spent $40 billion on counter-drone technology and training NATO. That means building systems to shoot down enemy drones and training soldiers to use them. It sounds like a military technicality, but it's part of a much larger spending pledge that could affect investors and ordinary savers.

Last year, NATO countries promised to spend much more on defence overall. They agreed that by 2035, each country will spend at least 3.5% of its economic output on military equipment and personnel NATO. To put that in scale: if a country's economy produces $1 trillion per year, 3.5% of that is $35 billion a year going to defence. That is a massive reallocation of government money away from other priorities.

This week's announcement came with news that major defence companies signed new agreements to work together. Reuters reported that firms including Rheinmetall (a German company), Lockheed Martin (American), and others signed deals to supply the equipment NATO wants Reuters. Rheinmetall and Lockheed Martin confirmed they are partnering to boost European defence manufacturing Rheinmetall via LinkedIn. The companies have not said how much these new contracts are worth.

When you look at Rheinmetall's financial reports, the company already has a massive pipeline of orders. As of early 2026, Rheinmetall's backlog—the list of products it has been asked to build but hasn't yet delivered—was €73 billion Rheinmetall. That number doubled from €49 billion just two years earlier Rheinmetall. Rheinmetall expects to sell €14.0 to €14.5 billion worth of products this year, a jump of 40% to 45% from last year Rheinmetall.

Rheinmetall is already delivering actual counter-drone weapons. The company has started sending HERO loitering munitions—effectively, inexpensive disposable drones that can attack targets—to NATO countries, with deliveries wrapping up next year Rheinmetall. This is not a hypothetical product. NATO countries are using them right now.

Lockheed Martin, an American defence giant, is in a similar position. The company has orders for 128 fighter jets that it hasn't yet built, and it delivered a record number of F-35 jets last year Lockheed Martin. In fact, NATO F-35 jets shot down Russian drones over Poland in 2025—the first time NATO jets have engaged enemies inside allied territory Lockheed Martin. That shows the counter-drone spending is not just about budgets; it is solving a real operational problem.

Here is what matters: the defence companies have not said how much money the new Ankara agreements are worth. What we do know is that their order backlogs are already enormous and growing. The question investors and savers need to ask is whether all of NATO's spending promises are already baked into what these companies have already been asked to build, or whether there is room for much more growth.

Rheinmetall's figures suggest the market has already priced in a lot of what NATO promised. But without knowing the contract values of this week's announcements, no one can say for certain which companies will benefit most from the counter-drone dollars specifically, or how much extra work these deals will actually create beyond what's already booked.