The head of Nato will today announce that the military alliance needs to increase air and missile defence spending by 400 per per cent.

Mark Rutte, who is on a visit to London, has been pushing members to boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP, and a further 1.5 per cent security-related spending to meet Donald Trump’s demand for a 5 per cent target.

Mr Rutte believes the target will be agreed at the Nato summit in the Hague later this month, where the major air and missile defence boost will be top of the agenda.

At a speech at the Chatham House think-tank, Mr Rutte will argue: “We see in Ukraine how Russia delivers terror from above, so we will strengthen the shield that protects our skies.”

“The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.”

Gaps in Nato’s air defences are considered one of the Western alliance’s most pressing challenges.