Increasing military spending to a modest 3% could double the defense budget.
Western European countries are not ready to increase spending on military production, governments prefer to continue spending state budget funds on social programs. In the context of increasing military power of Russia, which already spends 6% of GDP on war needs, this situation creates a threat to the security of European countries.
This is stated in the analytical publication of the British edition of The Daily Telegraph.
“There is a lot of talk in the UK about the need to increase defense spending, perhaps to 2.5 or even 3% of GDP. But during the Cold War it was 4-5%… Even in Estonia, on the very “lip of the bear” [that is, the border with Russia], defense spending will only reach 3% this year,” writes the analyst.
Increasing military spending to a modest 3% could double the defense budget, he said. The author notes that for pensioners, the disabled, the unemployed and the sick in Western countries, it is better to have 97 percent of what they have now than to be left in ruins after being conquered by a hostile state.
“In the democracies of Western Europe, we are—to put it bluntly—so dependent on our bloated public welfare spending that we can only find pennies for defense,” the article says.
What is the situation with ammunition
The millions of shells Ukraine has already used to counter Russian aggression have largely been taken from stockpiles rather than new production. These were stockpiles not only of the United States, but also of a number of other countries from around the world. In the case of shells, the problem is not money, but the lack of production capacity,” the article says.
However, until recently, even the powerful US military-industrial complex was capable of producing only 28 thousand 155 mm shells per month; by the end of this year this figure will increase to 70-80 thousand shells per month.< /p>
Western European countries are also trying to launch additional production of ammunition, but the pace is too slow. One reason is that Western armies do not plan to fight these types of wars.
In this context, reference is made to the Western coalition's war against dictator Saddam Hussein in Iraq, in which only 9,000 155mm rounds were used in the entire campaign.
“As the situation with the 155mm shells shows, it is too late to start preparing once the war has begun. We need to take a stand and stop thinking that the government's job is to provide us with social assistance and good, well-paid jobs. All in all , take care of the defense of the nation,” the publication says.
Recall that News Week recently reported that ammunition for Ukraine could only arrive in a few months.
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