Out of the Riga Summit, NATO heads of state have developed a laundry list of “initiatives to increase the capacity of [member] forces to address contemporary threats and challenges.” Included in the Riga Summit Declaration are commitments to increase the alliance’s strategic airlift capability, which they deemed “crucial” to rapid deployment and to address “identified persistent shortages.” They mentioned the recently concluded agreement to buy several C-17 airlifters. Other provisions include activating an Intelligence Fusion Center to improve intelligence sharing and signing the first major contract for a NATO Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense System.
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.