2023-09-21 22:57:00
An executive from the arms industry tells Reuters “war is good for business”.
And in Europe, business is booming.
In 2022, European military spending increased by 13%, bringing total global spending to an all-time high of $2.24 trillion.
— Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) September 18, 2023
From ‘Libertaria Institute’:
On Saturday, the chairman of NATO’s military committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, said members of the alliance must increase defense spending to offset rising prices. “Prices of equipment and ammunition are rising rapidly. Now we pay more and more for the same thing,” he said. “This means we cannot be sure that increased defense spending will actually lead to greater security.”
After the start of Russian military intervention in Ukraine, the United States pledged to supply Kiev with weapons worth more than $43 billion. The increase in demand for weapons has led to an increase in the stock prices of American weapons companies.
Former Pentagon officials warn that weapons manufacturers are exploiting the war in Ukraine to raise prices for the Defense Department. Shay Assad, who worked as a Pentagon contract negotiator for 40 years, told 60 Minutes that such companies overcharge the Defense Department on everything from “radars and missiles… helicopters… airplanes… submarines… down to peanuts.” and bolts.” (
Atif Rashid, editor of Analyst News: “Within weeks of the Russian invasion, Raytheon Technologies’ market capitalization rose to $155 billion from $128 billion at the beginning of the year. Lockheed Martin’s capitalization at the beginning of 2022 was $98 billion, and by the end of the year it reached $127 billion, the highest level on record.” He continued: “Northrop Grumman started the year with $61 billion and ended the year with $84 billion.”
However, Bauer directed private equity funds and banks to support the arms industry’s efforts to increase production.
Washington is providing significant subsidies to the arms industry to increase the production rate of 155 mm projectiles. The Pentagon spends $1.5 billion a year to increase production of artillery shells.
However, the United States is unable to produce the quantity of projectiles that Ukraine needs. According to the Pentagon’s procurement chief, Bill LaPlante, weapons manufacturers can produce 28 thousand bullets per month, but Ukraine produces up to 10 thousand per day.
LaPlante says the gun industry is ahead of schedule and should be able to ramp up production to about 1.2 million rounds per year by 2025. However, that would leave the U.S. far behind to Russia, which currently produces around 2 million artillery shells per year.
Source: libertarianinstitute.org
Considerations
London, Washington and the EU have agreed to prolong this conflict situation in Ukraine for as long as possible. This cannot even be called a “war,” but rather a heinous massacre on a massive scale.
Ukraine has become little more than a theater for profiting from war, laundering dirty money, perpetrating large-scale thefts (see US Congressman Paul Gosar’s statements here), running a black market in weapons, committing murders of dissidents, torturing civilians, kill and torture prisoners of war, imprison journalists, illegally siphon off millions of dollars, be riddled with widespread corruption on a gigantic scale, all while untold death, destruction and deception occur. And finally the colossal arms market: companies will benefit not only from the increasing orders but also from the need to replenish the now empty Western arsenals.
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