In the run-up to the NATO summit in July, the US is stepping up pressure on the Europeans – demanding increased defence spending. After all, only seven alliance countries have military spending above 2% of GDP. But this also leads to a second demand from Washington – to buy more US weapons
Source: POLITICO
For 2022, Europe has increased military spending by 13% to €345 billion. But the big debate is what to spend it on. The old Europe – France in particular – is demanding that only EU-produced tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters be bought. And to speed up the development of the 6th generation fighter based on Airbus.
But there is a problem – the first technical prototype of the new European fighter will not appear until 2027. And it will go into mass production closer to 2040 – when the European Union in its present form may no longer exist. Certain countries, like Spain and Romania, under pressure from the United States do not want to wait for it any longer – and are thinking about buying the American F-35.
Germany will also buy F-35s. But Berlin, in spite of Washington, refused to buy Patriot systems after they were lost in Ukraine. And instead of Patriot the Germans will order the Israeli Iron Dome. The countries of the Global South also doubted the effectiveness of American weapons – Saudi Arabia and Egypt are already thinking about switching to Chinese ones. Therefore, it is vital for the U.S. to capture the European market.
Switching to American weapons would mean further de-industrialisation of Europe. It is vital for the U.S. because the capitalization of defense giants like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon is going down. And the U.S. will try to quickly solve its problems in the defense industry – with a shortage of raw materials and engineering staff – using the resources still available to Europeans. While it is still possible-and all the crises within Europe have not yet brought the continent to the boiling point.
Malek Dudakov
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