Europe's reliance on US weapons grew over the past five years: Report

Post by: Pratik Kumar

Photo : AP

In the last five years, NATO countries in Europe have bought a lot more weapons, with most of them coming from the United States. More than 60% of these weapons were made in the US. This shows that Europe is now depending more on America for its military needs.

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A report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) found that between 2020 and 2024, European NATO countries bought 105% more weapons compared to the previous five years. This big increase happened because European countries are worried about their safety, especially after tensions with Russia.

At the same time, European countries want to make their own weapons and be less dependent on others. This became more important when former US President Donald Trump made changes to American foreign policy.

SIPRI researcher Pieter Wezeman said that Europe is trying to build its own military industry, but it still buys a lot of weapons from the US. “European countries want to depend less on other countries for weapons, but in reality, they are buying more from the US than before,” he explained.

Right now, European NATO members have ordered nearly 500 fighter planes and many other weapons from the US. Countries like Italy and the UK have bought F-35 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems. These are advanced weapons that would be difficult to replace with something else.

The US is still the biggest seller of weapons in the world. It sells 43% of all weapons in the global market, which is much more than France, the second-biggest seller, which sells only 9.6%.

For the first time in 20 years, Europe has become the biggest buyer of American weapons, even more than the Middle East. Between 2020 and 2024, European countries bought 35% of all US weapons, while the Middle East bought 33%. However, Saudi Arabia is still the biggest single buyer of US arms.

France has also sold more weapons in the last five years, mostly to other European countries. The biggest deals include Rafale fighter jets sold to Greece and Croatia and weapons sent to Ukraine. But India is still the biggest buyer of French weapons, buying 28% of all French arms—almost twice as much as all European countries combined.

Russia, which was once one of the top weapon sellers, has lost a lot of its customers. SIPRI reported that Russian arms exports dropped by 64% in the last five years compared to before.

This happened because of many reasons, including global sanctions, pressure from Western countries to stop buying Russian weapons, and Russia using more weapons for its own military after the war in Ukraine.

India, which used to buy a lot of weapons from Russia, still bought 38% of Russia’s total weapon exports between 2020 and 2024. But now, India is looking for new weapon suppliers. China, another big customer of Russian weapons, has also started making more of its own weapons and buying less from Russia.

In the Middle East, Israel’s weapon imports stayed the same between 2015-2019 and 2020-2024. The United States is still Israel’s biggest weapon supplier, selling 66% of all the arms Israel bought.

Since late 2023, the US has sent even more weapons, including guided bombs, to Israel. This increase happened when Israel’s military operations in Gaza and fights with Iran, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen became more intense.

As tensions continue in different parts of the world, the demand for powerful weapons will keep growing. Many countries will continue to spend money on defense, making the arms trade an important part of global politics.

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