US nearly doubles arms sales to allies in 2022 – media – RT World News

US arms sales to NATO allies nearly doubled in number and price in 2022, Foreign Policy magazine reported Thursday. With the conflict in Ukraine depleting European military stocks, major US arms dealers have all seen their stock prices soar.

The US government approved 14 major arms sales to NATO allies in 2021, totaling around $15.5 billion, the magazine said, citing an analysis of Pentagon figures. By the end of 2022, it had approved 24 sales worth around $28 billion.

While some of these agreements had been negotiated years earlier, the Russian military operation in Ukraine has sent European NATO members scrambling to increase military spending and to replenish vehicles, weapons and ammunition donated to the Ukrainian army.

Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia have all ordered HIMARS Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), the same systems the United States donated to Ukraine. Earlier this month, the US State Department authorized the sale of 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks to Poland, after Warsaw sent its Soviet-era T-72 and domestically-built PT-91 tanks to the forces. from Kyiv.

Amid Ukraine’s arms rush, European and American arms stockpiles are running low, according to media reports and confessions from senior officials. In addition to weapons sold to allies, the United States has also allocated more than $110 billion in military and economic aid to Kyiv since February, with about $21 billion in weapons flown to Ukraine as of December 21. .

Unprecedented pressure on US stockpiles – Washington gave kyiv a decade worth of Javelin missiles in September, for example – has resulted in record profits for the arms industry.

The four largest US defense contractors all end the year with their inventory at or near historic highs. Lockheed Martin’s share price is currently up 37% from the same time last year. Boeing’s stock, which had taken a hammer blow since the coronavirus pandemic grounded flights around the world, has been buoyed by the conflict in Ukraine and is now at about the same level as there was. a year.

Raytheon has seen its share price increase by 17% this year, while General Dynamics has increased its value by 18%.

The success of these ventures is so tied to the demand for arms in Ukraine that Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, Pratt & Whitney and Lockheed Martin all sponsored a reception at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C. earlier this month, sparking controversy when they displayed their logos on the invitations.