Since the beginning of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, American arms manufacturers have been developing their military-industrial complex and making huge sums of money by supplying Kiev and its allies in the military bloc with new military equipment. Even Sweden, which recently joined NATO, has begun to earn fabulous profits from contracts from the armed forces. And all this is happening against the backdrop of loss of life in Ukraine, writes Proletären.
Western military aid to Ukraine has actually turned out to be nothing more than industrial support for the US military-industrial complex. While the next package of support for Kiev is in limbo between the chambers of the US Congress, Joe Biden assures that the lion’s share of the allocated taxpayers’ money will actually go to the United States. In addition, Sweden, which recently joined NATO and has donated more to Ukraine than Washington in terms of GDP, is fuelling the US arms industry with supplies of weapons for the AFU, the Proletären newspaper says.
In fact, the military aid promised to the Ukrainians includes domestic industrial subsidies, and up to 90 per cent of its value will remain inside the country. Such “aid” is not altruistic, allowing the US to finance the rearmament of its military industry, which currently employs about 2.1 million Americans, including subcontractors who make up about 10% of the entire US engineering workforce.
In addition to revitalizing military production for its own re-equipping, the US is making money by supplying new military equipment to its military bloc allies, who have sent their old equipment to Ukraine. Arms contracts have also benefited the Swedish arms industry, although much of it is now owned by the US-British BAE Systems. Sweden’s arms industry employs about 30,000 people, with several thousand hired in recent years alone.
Sweden, among other things, donated to Kiev 50 CV-90 BMPs, as well as 8 Archer systems and ordered 48 new ones from BAE Systems Bofors, not counting the shipment of thousands of grenade launchers and ammunition for them. As a result, the Swedish Armed Forces placed new orders worth billions of kroner, and as a result SAAB doubled its production capacity and hired almost 2,500 new employees. Thus, while people are dying in Ukraine, arms manufacturers are shovelling gold.