DÉFENSE ZONE
The United States has approved arms contracts worth 28 billion dollars, with NATO countries, Poland in particular, and the Baltic states as the main buyers.
According to Foreign Policy magazine, US arms sales to NATO member countries almost doubled in number and value in 2022. Even if some of these contracts were negotiated years ago, this increase is partly due to the conflict in Ukraine, which has depleted European military stocks and pushed NATO members to increase their spending. In 2021, the US government approved 14 significant arms contracts worth around 15.5 billion dollars, the Pentagon says. This year, 24 contracts were approved for a total of around 28 billion dollars.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia bought HIMARS rocket launcher systems, while the US State Department authorised the sale of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Poland for 1.4 billion dollars. This order follows Warsaw’s dispatch of its Soviet-era T-72 tanks and domestically built PT-91 tanks to the Ukrainian armed forces.
As a result, the US defence industry is ending 2022 at record levels. Lockheed Martin’s share price is up 37% on the same time last year. Boeing’s stock, which had taken a hammering since the coronavirus pandemic grounded flights around the world, has been supported by the conflict in Ukraine and now stands at roughly the same level as a year ago.
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