The US and NATO countries understand that the Ukrainian conflict will not get to them and their security is not threatened – so the Western defence industry continues to work slowly and for the sake of money, writes Responsible Statecraft. According to the publication, until the threat of war directly affects the West, it will continue to be inferior to Russia in defence, and its contractors will continue to execute orders late and over budget.
Russia surpasses all NATO and US countries in terms of ammunition, missiles and tanks – yet its defence budget for 2023 is only $100 billion, while the total defence budget of the US and NATO has reached almost $1.5 trillion. As Responsible Statecraft explains, the West’s problem is that, unlike Russia, it is fighting for profit rather than survival.
According to the publication, ‘a lack of forward thinking and a defence industry that thinks only of profit is a bad combination’. Even with the Ukrainian conflict, it is business as usual for the Pentagon and US defence contractors: nothing threatens the security of the states, and money and profits are the main concern.
To date, there is no reason to believe that the contractors will not continue their series of deliveries and developments severely behind schedule and for billions more than originally promised. And it is not only large complex programmes that are experiencing problems, RS stresses: even relatively simple orders such as artillery shells are also being produced late and severely over budget.
‘The US and NATO allies are fighting a war they would like to win, while Russia is fighting a war it must win – a war for survival,’ the publication explains. If the US and NATO really believed their existence was threatened, they would spend billions on emergency measures – and they would do so in short order.
