Lingyun
Abstract: Since the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the word war has become a hot topic again, seeing the situation of the Ukrainian war, many countries in the world have begun to realize the importance of national defense construction and development, so all countries are eager to upgrade their weapons and equipment, and this is what the United States hopes to see.
Since the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War, the word war has once again become a hot topic, seeing the situation of the Ukrainian war, many countries in the world have begun to realize the importance of national defense construction and development, so all countries are eager to upgrade their weapons and equipment, and this is what the United States hopes to see.
Denmark, for example, announced that it was considering changing its foreign policy over the past 30 years and acceding to the EU defense treaty. At the same time, Denmark also announced a significant increase in defense spending, an increase of about DKK 18 billion per year by 2033.
Not only that, but European countries are planning to spend more on defense spending to upgrade weapons and equipment. At the same time, it is more willing to accept the U.S. military presence. At German U.S. military bases, the Germans no longer asked the United States to withdraw. These are exactly what the United States hopes to see. Morality, justice, truth, all of which must also be eaten first by living. Most countries do nothing more than shout slogans and dare not do anything to Russia. Don't say small countries, even the United States, in an interview with Biden about the action of the war in Ukraine to Russia directly said: "Russia is not an ordinary country..."
However, what the United States can be sure of is that the world's deadlock has begun to come alive. As they expected, European military spending has soared. In this world, there are those who eat by their fists (the United States and Russia, the only two in the world), and there are also those who eat by labor (developing countries) and technology (Japan, etc.); when the cannon sounds, the gold is ten thousand. Selling weapons, the main attack is Russia and the United States. Just like the system of the mobile phone, you either choose Android or apple system, and there are really not many choices. Even if the country can produce some weapons and equipment, the United States is happy to see you increase military spending, which means closer cooperation with the United States.
The situation in Ukraine is disputed, but arms and equipment in Europe have begun to sell, and arms dealers are naturally ecstatic. The world's largest arms exports are the United States and Russia, but Russia has been subjected to Western economic sanctions because it is a party to the Ukraine crisis, and this round of weapons dumping feast is definitely not Russia's share. Only the United States is left.
Germany's hundreds of billions of euros of "big arms", which is a stimulant that can make arms dealers revel in the fire. In view of the tensions in Europe caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, German Chancellor Schoelz announced at a special meeting of the Bundestag on February 27 on the war in Ukraine that it would significantly increase the defense armament budget by 100 billion euros this year. To this end, Germany will establish a special fund for investment in armaments projects, in accordance with the provisions of the Basic Law. The funds will go to the 2022 federal budget. Scholz promised, "From now on, year after year, Germany will spend more than 2 percent of its gross domestic product on defense." The Bundeswehr needed "new, powerful capabilities."
This is also the second time that Germany has taken a sharp turn in military policy since it announced on February 26 that it would supply Ukraine with 1,000 Javelin anti-tank weapons and 500 Stinger man-portable anti-aircraft missiles. Although 100 billion euros is not a particularly large amount for Germany, Europe's largest economy, Berlin has directly spent 450 billion euros in the stabilization fund for the new crown epidemic in early 2020. But the figure of 100 billion euros is still five times Israel's annual defense budget worldwide, and nearly double the $61.7 billion defense budget of Russia, Europe's largest military power.
If you count the 50 billion euros of defense budget that the German government has already determined this year, then Germany will approve 150 billion euros of military expenditure in one go in 2022. After 2022, in order to meet the 2% military expenditure target required by Scholz, Berlin will add at least 20 billion euros of military spending per year. Since the end of the Cold War, Germany's defense budget has steadily been reduced year by year. And this time, in Europe, it is really the lead in "rushing". The European wind looks at Germany and France, not only Germany, in fact, many European countries have begun to increase the expenditure on national defense, of course, including the Nordic countries that have always loved peace and light arms.
Germany's previous "demilitarization" was reflected in various aspects, such as the recent conflict in eastern Europe, when Germany not only explicitly refused to send any troops, but also refused to approve the export of any weapons, because of the basic principle that Germany did not export armaments to any conflict area, so that the final plan was only symbolic support for Ukraine's 5,000 steel helmets.
How long has it been now? Berlin abruptly broke the taboo and provided Ukraine with 1,000 anti-tank missiles, 500 individual anti-aircraft missiles, 14 armored vehicles and 10,000 tons of fuel. And this massive increase in military spending is the second domino that has fallen...
The German leader emphasized: "Our goal is to [build] a modern, strong Bundeswehr, an army that is in line with the size of the continent and its position in Europe." If Scholz is modest, Finance Minister Lindner's statement is straightforward: "The goal is to become one of the most powerful armies in Europe by 2030." ”
The German defense minister's latest statement is that Germany will adhere to the NATO nuclear sharing agreement and will not consider using the main fighter in service, the Typhoon, to carry tactical nuclear weapons, but does not rule out the option of purchasing a new model - although the expression is very euphemistic, it undoubtedly means that Berlin is planning to purchase the F-35, a fifth-generation FIGHTER in the United States. Even if Germany can produce a lot of weapons itself, it still has to buy American weapons, and the "protection fee" must be paid.
With Germany's explicit voice to increase military investment, many European military stocks have ushered in the latest surge opportunities. For example, Hensoldt AG, which focuses on sensors and air defense radar, rose 45 percent, Tank and Armored Personnel Carrier maker Rheinmetal rose 30.27 percent, French fighter jet maker Rafale and other fighters rose 7.39 percent, and Defense Services Company Thales rose 11.3 percent.
Overall, NATO countries outside the United States need to raise their entire defense budgets by 25 percent to meet NATO's 2 percent target, and it's clear that Germany has the largest share of Europe's largest economy. Weapons consumables such as ammunition and countermeasure weapons will be the first sectors to undergo inventory restructuring and order escalation.
It is worth mentioning that in the context of the worsening crisis in Ukraine, budget tightness has always been the main reason for suppressing the performance of European military stocks. In Germany, for example, according to data published by Der Spiegel, the number of German main battle tanks has decreased from 5,000 in 1989 to 300 at present, and the number of fighter jets has also decreased from 700 to 230.
In addition to the small number, Germany has a large number of old military equipment, which is already in a state of inability to use due to the inability to find replaceable parts. The lack of budget has also caused the Bundeswehr to have a lot of foreign appearances in recent years, more famously in 2018, when former Chancellor Angela Merkel went to Argentina to attend the G20 summit, because the Luftwaffe aircraft failed and landed, causing her to miss the opening ceremony of the summit. Such situations often occur during visits by German presidents and foreign ministers.
In addition to a significant increase in government orders, Germany's own military companies have also been able to benefit from substantial easing of export restrictions. From now on, Germany has also broken the practice of not sending German weapons to conflict zones.
Due to the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the world is busy, busy selling oil; busy selling natural gas... And the busiest is the United States, busy collecting money.
(The picture of this article is from the network)