Western defense industry expected to make over $400 BILLION IN SALES by end of the year amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict

Western defense industry expected to make over $400 BILLION IN SALES by end of the year amid ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict

Arsenio Toledo

The top defense contractors in the United States and the rest of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are expected to rake in over $400 billion in arms sales by the end of the year, a nearly $50 billion increase from last year.

Last year, defense contractors in the U.S., European Union and the United Kingdom, benefiting greatly from the ongoing Russian special military operation in Ukraine, made hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue. The top five weapons contractors in America alone made $196 billion in military-related earnings, with Lockheed Martin dominating with a whopping $63 billion in revenue. (Related: Pentagon report: Huge amount of U.S. military aid to Ukraine has been stolen by criminal organizations and arms traffickers.)

According to Defense News, four U.S.-based defense corporations were among the world's top five military contractors – Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, RTX, formerly known as Raytheon Technologies, and General Dynamics – thanks in no small part to America being the main source of weapons and military hardware for Ukraine amid its ongoing conflict with Russia. Washington has already committed nearly $40 billion in military aid to Kyiv.

Western defense industry already made over $200 billion this year

During the first half of the year, the top 25 Western defense contractors increased their revenue by 11 percent to $212 billion. According to calculations, the total arms sales for these corporations are expected to surge to around $448 billion by the end of the year. This would be a $47 billion increase compared to last year.

Furthermore, by 2026, the revenues of these 25 defense contractors could rise by more than 20 percent to $554 billion. This growth would not only come from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine but from the rapid rearmament of Europe's armed forces.

Further estimates suggest that Western defense contractors will likely increase their revenues by more than $150 billion, or 37 percent, from 2021 to 2026. This would be nearly double the expected economic growth of developed nations during the same period. The International Monetary Fund estimates that, by 2026, the collective GDP of advanced or developed nations will be $67.8 trillion, a nearly 20 percent increase from $56.6 trillion in 2021.

"Ukraine may be resembling a bloodbath … but apparently, Western military corporations are swimming in a bonanza of profits and stock market investments," wrote the editorial team of the Strategic Culture Foundation (SCF). "Most of this lucrative new business stems from NATO's proxy war with Russia in Ukraine, which is heading toward its second year. There is no sign of a diplomatic effort from the West or the Kyiv regime it sponsors to end the bloodshed."

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