ANKARA: NATO on Tuesday will showcase a series of new military projects worth billions of dollars in an attempt to convince US President Donald Trump that the allies are stepping up defense spending and converting investment into real firepower. At an event dubbed the “big reveal,” several leaders are due to announce new deals with defense companies, plenty of them in the United States. Trump has branded NATO a “paper tiger” that would cease to function without American arms and leadership.

Leaders are expected to focus on whether Europe can turn higher defense spending into military power as Washington pushes allies to shoulder more of the burden.

The NATO alliance is preparing to announce tens of billions of dollars worth of defense contracts at the alliance's highly anticipated summit.

Alliance members tout defense investments to try to head off Trump’s complaints.