The demand for armaments in the EU has grown strongly since Russia began its offensive on Ukraine, while European leaders have increasingly talked about strengthening defense capabilities. About half of the military equipment imported comes from the US, according to a report published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), quoted by Al Jazeera.
According to the report, European countries tripled their arms imports between 2021-2025 compared to 2016-2020, largely to support Ukraine in its defense but also to rebuild its own armed forces after decades of underinvestment.
Almost half of these imported weapons (48%) come from the United States, suggesting that Europe is having difficulty achieving its goal of becoming more self-sufficient in defense, the quoted source notes.
Poland and the United Kingdom are Europe's biggest arms importers, according to SIPRI.
Europe depends on the US for several reasons. Some weapons, such as multiple launch rocket systems, are not manufactured in Europe, said Katarina Djokic, a researcher at SIPRI.
Where do the weapons go?
SIPRI points to arms supplies to Ukraine as the “most obvious driver” of the increase in imports.
“Ukraine's arms imports over the past five years accounted for 43 percent of the total increase in European imports,” said Katarina Djokic.
This figure only reflects direct imports from the US to Ukraine, she said. It does not include imports made on Kiev's behalf by other European states, which means that, in reality, Ukraine's military needs contributed to an even greater proportion of Europe's import growth.
Behind the increase in imports, however, another trend is taking shape: the consolidation of the European arms industry.
“Overall, the arms exports of the 27 current EU member states increased by 36%,” according to the SIPRI report.
The pace is faster than that of exports from the US, which rose 27%, and China, where growth was 11%.
Europe's combined export share was 28 percent of total world arms exports over the past five years, while imports accounted for about a third of the world total.
The Russian market is collapsing
The report also shows a sharp decline in Russia's arms exports.
Considered the main threat to Europe's security, Russia has seen its share of arms exports drop by 64% over the past five years.
“Nobody wants to buy Russian equipment because it's been shown that it's not that good. Their technology has been beaten by Ukrainian technology,” General Ben Hodges, former commander of US forces in Europe, told Al Jazeera.
