The United States increased arms exports in 2019–2023 by 17% compared to the period 2014–2018.

Thus, the United States today occupies 42% of the world arms market.

This is stated in the report of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

“The United States has expanded its global role as an arms supplier as an important aspect of its foreign policy, exporting more weapons to more countries than ever before,” said Matthew George, director of SIPRI's arms program.

At the same time, Europe has become a major buyer of American defense products.

In recent years, the share of American suppliers in the structure of European arms imports has increased from 35% to 55%.

“More than half of the weapons imported by European countries come from the United States,” explained SIPRI director Dan Smith. 

At the same time, European countries are also increasing the production of defense products, SIPRI noted.

According to Smith, Europe today accounts for about a third of global arms exports.

  • Patriot air defense system for shipment to Ukraine

  • AP

Thus, between 2019 and 2023, France increased its defense exports by 47% compared to the previous five-year period.

According to SIPRI estimates, France managed to take second place in the world in terms of arms exports after the United States.

French defense products are in greatest demand in Asia and Oceania - 42% of France's external supplies are sent to these regions.

34% comes from the Middle East, with India and Egypt also being major buyers.

At the same time, Russian arms exports have decreased by 53% over the past five years, according to SIPRI analysts. 

“They are waiting for the return of Russian weapons”

According to Doctor of Political Science Andrei Manoilo, we can talk about a planned reduction in volumes, since they are determined by contracts concluded even before the start of a special military operation.

Another possible factor is the redistribution of products supplied for export.

Although, of course, the growth of domestic demand for weapons from the Russian Armed Forces also plays an important role, the expert explained in an interview with RT.

“In any case, Russia has a good chance in the future to expand its position in the global arms market.

In the Northern Military District, Russian weapons prove their effectiveness every day.

This is also seen by its potential foreign buyers,” Manoilo noted.

A similar point of view is shared by Evgeniy Semibratov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, lecturer at the Knowledge Society.

As the expert explained in a commentary to RT,

We must not forget that the cost of American weapons has increased significantly in recent years.

Now Russian defense enterprises are mobilized to meet the needs of their own army, but in the future these volumes of defense products will be able to be sold on the world market.

“Many of our partners are also waiting for the return of Russian weapons, since our products are the most affordable and at the same time meet modern requirements.

So, I think that after the completion of the SVO, Russia will completely restore its position in the global defense market,” the expert believes.

"Trying to make money"

The increase in the share of American and European manufacturers in global arms exports was largely due to the situation around Ukraine, experts say. 

The fact that the French leadership views the Ukrainian conflict from the point of view of benefits for the French arms industry was directly stated in January 2024 by the Minister of Defense of the Republic, Sebastien Lecornu, in an interview with Le Parisien.

The minister noted this when speaking about increasing the speed of production of military products by French enterprises for supplies to Kyiv.

  • RIA News

  • © Alexey Kudenko

“The military economy is an opportunity not only for our armies, but also for our industrialists.

The latter are fully interested in this, since the ability to quickly produce equipment will become one of the criteria for export success,” Lecornu said.

At the same time, the political leadership of France not only does not take steps towards de-escalation, but, on the contrary, increases the degree of military-political tension.

Thus, in February 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron did not rule out the possibility of sending foreign troops to Ukraine.

According to Evgeniy Semibratov, the French leadership is trying to extract economic benefit from the current situation, ignoring the fact that the presence of an open military conflict in Europe entails serious risks for any European country.

“The French are trying to make money after the Americans, taking into account the general negative economic trends in Europe, the recession that began in Germany,” the expert noted.

Enrichment of the military-industrial complex

In September 2020, Donald Trump, then head of the White House, accused the Pentagon of seeking to start wars to enrich the military-industrial complex.

“I'm not saying the US military loves me.

Ordinary soldiers love me, but the top of the Pentagon probably don’t.

They only want to fight wars so as not to upset all these wonderful companies that make bombs and planes and everything else.

But we are emerging from endless wars,” Trump said. 

Nevertheless, a year earlier, Trump signed a record US defense budget at that time - then the volume of defense allocations amounted to $738 billion.

Democrat Joe Biden, who took over the presidency of the United States after Trump, continued this course.

Thus, in December 2023, the politician signed a defense budget in the amount of $886.3 billion.

  • Joe Biden at the Lockheed Martin plant

  • AFP

  • © Nicholas Kamm

“You shouldn’t think that Democrats are “bad” and Republicans are “good.”

Behind the Democratic and Republican parties there are simply different companies in the military-industrial sector.

Therefore, although Donald Trump is now gaining political points among his voters by saying that he will stop military assistance to Ukraine, one must understand that the Republicans are also associated with the military-industrial complex, for which war is simply a profitable business tool,” explained Yevgeny Semibratov.

"Interests of the gun lobby"

Now

The United States and other NATO countries continue to supply arms to Kyiv, and also sabotage constructive initiatives for a peaceful settlement in Ukraine.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, the Ukrainian leadership withdrew from peace negotiations with Moscow in 2022 at the direction of Washington.

According to experts, the main beneficiary of this decision was the American military-industrial complex - military-industrial groups that are interested in increasing the export of weapons products.

  • Abrams tank in Ukraine

  • © Vladimir Saldo

“Most European countries have depleted their weapons stockpiles and are forced to purchase them from the United States.

Washington has previously been guided by the interests of the arms lobby, which influences the decisions of American politicians.

The American military-industrial complex today largely controls American politics.

It is the arms magnates who influence the adoption of many foreign policy decisions, while being in the shadows,” said Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the RUDN University, a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, in a conversation with RT.

Also on russian.rt.com “Keeping Ukraine afloat”: why the White House declared the indispensability of US military assistance for Kyiv

According to Andrei Manoilo, today not only American industrialists, but also a number of European arms manufacturers are profiting from the confrontation.

“For example, the Czech military-industrial complex receives a huge number of orders; it also benefits from the military-political crisis.

As for the United States, it is no secret that weapons corporations have their own lobby in Congress; this is an officially legalized practice,” the expert explained.

Evgeniy Semibratov agrees with these assessments.

“For the United States, war became a business a long time ago.

This is, in fact, a well-known fact; just look at how many conflicts the United States initiated and how much American defense corporations earned from it.

And they are not going to give up this business,” the expert concluded.