[Circumtemporal depth] The Russia-Ukraine conflict has enriched the five major U.S. industrial companies | the United States | the U.S. military

On July 31st, the Pentagon announced an extension of its previous contract with a subsidiary of the US military giant General Dynamics, allowing the company to continue providing maintenance services for the Abrams main battle tank. This contract, worth 33.8 million US dollars, is just the tip of the iceberg that General Dynamics has gained additional benefits due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Although the conflict has brought serious personnel and economic losses to Russia and Ukraine, it has resulted in huge profits for American military giants and their affiliated military industrial complexes. It is well known that the US military industrial complex has made war profits, and even an employee of the country's asset management giant BlackRock said that war is "too beneficial" for business.

Ukraine and Europe have bought a lot of them

In the city center of Camden, Arkansas, a large number of stores have closed. From the outside of some shops, the light inside is very dim. The former prosperity here no longer exists, replaced by desolation and desolation. However, the highland industrial park, which is only a 10 minute drive away from here, is a different scene. People are bustling and vehicles come and go, busy transporting the "Hamas" multiple rocket launcher system and large caliber ammunition produced here to other places.

For over 20 years, the Camden economy has been sluggish and there has been a serious outflow of population. The outbreak and continuation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought "opportunities" to this city with many arsenals, and there has even been a "labor shortage" here. Kamden's "dead wood returns to spring" is the epitome of the "prosperity" of the US military industry enterprises and the military industry complex they belong to after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On August 2, 2023, local time, a woman stopped to inspect an apartment building that was severely damaged in a Russian attack in Borojanka, Ukraine.

The so-called "military industrial complex" refers to a large interest group composed of the US military, arms manufacturers, congressmen, defense research institutions, think tanks, public opinion circles, etc. It is a secret super interest group alliance. The five major military industry giants in the United States, namely Boeing, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Thor, are important components of this group. In the 1990s, there were 51 large defense contractors in the United States, but now there are only 5, and most of the contracts from the US Department of Defense are given to these 5 companies.

According to the German online data platform Statista, before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine rarely purchased weapons from other countries. In 2022, Ukraine suddenly became the world's third largest arms importer, ranking fifth among the major arms export destinations of the United States. The 2022 US foreign arms sales data released by the US State Department on January 25 this year showed that US military companies sold $153.7 billion in weapons and military equipment directly to foreign governments last year, an increase of approximately 48% compared to 2021. The State Department of the United States acknowledged that the significant increase in foreign arms sales was largely due to the continuous arms exports from the United States to Russia-Ukraine conflict since the escalation of the Russian Ukrainian conflict.

"They are 'riding the wind and waves'." Hartone, a senior researcher at the Quincy Institute for National Strategy, an American think tank, said that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is a huge source of profits for the five giants of the US military industry. On July 9 this year, Wired magazine reported that since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States has allocated more than 48 billion dollars in security assistance to Ukraine. According to media reports such as the National magazine of the United States, the five military giants can obtain contracts worth more than 150 billion dollars from the Pentagon every year, accounting for nearly 20% of the Pentagon's total budget, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought more contracts to these five companies. In the fiscal year 2023, the US defense budget was $858 billion, of which domestic military companies received $400 billion. Recently, both houses of Congress in the United States passed the 2024 Defense Authorization Act, which sets the defense budget at $886 billion. Some media predict that nearly half of the defense budget will go to the weapons manufacturers, so that the United States can "maintain its military advantage over China" and continue to pay attention to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The increase in contracts has led to a significant increase in production for American military companies. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Lockheed Martin has increased the production of "Javelin" anti tank missiles from 2100 to nearly 4000 per year, while the production of its "Hamas" multiple rocket launcher system has increased from 60 to 96 per year.

As a result of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the stock prices and market values of four of the five major military industrial companies in the United States, except Boeing, have greatly increased due to the so-called "supply chain problem". Among them, the stock prices of Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies have increased by 37%, 26%, 24% and 17% respectively in 2022, and their market values have increased by $16.4 billion, $10.8 billion, $16 billion and $14.8 billion, respectively.

In addition to Ukraine, American military companies also benefit significantly from European countries. According to the Political News Network of the United States, many European countries are purchasing "Javelin" anti tank missiles produced by Thor and Lockheed Martin. Poland has signed a $1.4 billion contract this year to purchase 116 M1A1 Abrams tanks, Slovak is purchasing F-16 fighter jets, and Romania is negotiating to purchase F-35 fighter jets. In 2022, military spending in Central and Western European countries increased by 13%, reaching $345 billion, the highest value since the end of the Cold War, with a large portion of this used to purchase American equipment.

According to statistics from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, over half of military spending in many European countries has recently flowed to American companies. The Defense for Democracy Foundation, a US think tank, estimates that from the escalation of the Ukraine crisis to the end of 2022, US military companies will receive a total value of nearly $22 billion in military sales orders from partner countries. The US Department of Defense established a working group in August last year, jointly led by the Pentagon's Policy Office and its procurement and support departments, to assess and accelerate the implementation of foreign arms sales.

Entering is an official, leaving is a business, shuttle and arbitrage

In order to put more money into their pockets, the US military industrial complex disguises its interests as national interests and influences government policy making through various means, including funding lobbyists and think tanks, hiring former government officials through revolving doors, and so on.

An interesting phenomenon emerged during the Russia-Ukraine conflict: some famous American lobbying companies served Ukraine free of charge, lobbying the US government on behalf of Kiev, and promoting Washington to increase its military support for Kiev. Behind their pretext of "humanitarian aid" to Ukraine is a heavily calculated plan. According to the British Guardian, the US New York Times and other media reports, before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, there were 11 companies lobbying for Ukraine for free in the United States, but now the number has risen to 25. A lobbying company called BGR for government affairs in the United States is an example. The company has been lobbying for Ukraine for free since May 2022, specifically for its military industry clients. Thor Corporation is one of them. BGR Government Affairs received a compensation of $240000 from Thor last year.

Funding think tanks is a way for the US military industrial complex to increase publicity and influence government decisions. A report released by the Quincy Institute of Governance Strategies in June showed that out of 27 think tanks in the United States that can identify donors, 21 have received funding from military companies. The report also found that American media overly relies on comments from think tanks funded by military companies. The report states that in articles about the United States and Ukraine, the number of times these think tanks are cited by the media is seven times higher than "not accepting funding from military companies for think tanks.".

Not to mention the infamous "revolving door" mechanism. Under this mechanism, US defense officials, members of Congress, and related personnel "enter as officials, and exit as business", constantly shuttling to achieve political arbitrage. Even during their tenure, these people will still favor military enterprises for their future interests. According to data, in order to get an extra share of the defense budget, US military companies hired 820 registered lobbyists to lobby Congress in 2022, with lobbying costs reaching $101 million in the first three quarters of that year.

According to the "Open Secrets" website in the United States, over the past 20 years, US military companies have spent $2.5 billion lobbying alone to influence defense policies. From 2014 to 2019, 1718 senior officials or procurement officials from the Department of Defense, including former US Defense Secretary Mattis, switched jobs to military industrial enterprises. A report released by the office of US Senator and Democrat Warren in April showed that nearly 700 former senior government officials in the United States are now working for military companies, including former generals. The report states that Boeing, Thor, and General Dynamics have hired 85, 64, and 60 former government officials as executives or lobbyists, respectively.

A bloody world nourishes 1% of the American population

After World War I, the United States became the world's largest industrial power. After the end of World War II, military industrial complexes gradually emerged. In 1956, the renowned American political scientist Mills published the book "Elite in Power", which first discussed the military industrial complex from an academic perspective. In 1961, then US President Eisenhower warned in his resignation speech that the "marriage" between powerful military organizations and large military industrial enterprises was a new phenomenon in the historical process of the United States, and the United States must prevent military industrial complexes from intentionally or unintentionally gaining undue influence. Scholars have warned that the US military industrial complex not only determines the research and development, procurement, and deployment of weapons, but also determines who is the enemy of the United States.

The US military industrial complex has made great war profits, but has left huge hidden dangers for the world and the US itself. Military experts warn that in the long run, the continuous influx of a large number of deadly weapons and artificial intelligence devices and systems into Ukraine may pose a serious threat to the security and privacy of the Ukrainian people. According to US media reports, at least 38 human rights organizations openly oppose the transfer of cluster bombs to Ukraine. Cluster bombs are banned by over 100 countries. Yuan Zheng, Deputy Director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times reporters that cluster bombs may suddenly explode in decades and may cause more innocent casualties.

The British "Analyst" news network reported that before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine had become one of the largest black markets in weapons in Europe. After the end of the future conflict, weapons provided by the West to Kiev may pose security risks. The report reminds that the military equipment provided by the United States to Ukraine can be used for decades. Some scholars are concerned that if these weapons enter the black market, they may fall into the hands of criminals or terrorists, further fueling violence. Yuan Zheng stated that this is a potential uncertainty factor for Ukraine and world security, and no one can know who these weapons will ultimately fall into their hands. He criticized, "The United States will not care whether these weapons flowing into Ukraine will bring disaster to Ukraine and even the world."

In addition to posing a threat to world security, the military industrial complex has also brought many problems to the United States itself. Sacks, the father of shock therapy and director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University in the United States, wrote that in 2000, the US government debt was $3.5 trillion, equivalent to 35% of the country's gross domestic product at that time. In 2022, the US government debt was approximately $24 trillion, equivalent to 95% of GDP. Sachs stated that a major reason for the soaring US government debt is its addiction to war and military spending. According to data from the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University in the United States, the cost of war in the United States reached $8 trillion from fiscal year 2001 to fiscal year 2022. According to the data of the Congressional Budget Office, if the current policy remains unchanged, the US debt will reach 185% of GDP by 2052.

This will have a significant impact on the development of other areas in the United States. According to an article in the American magazine Jacobin, under the leadership of the military industrial complex, a large amount of funds that could have created more value in clean energy, infrastructure, and other fields have been invested in the military industry. "This is a policy that arms dealers enjoy, serving only the interests of the top 1% of society.".

American anti war activist and current affairs commentator Dole said that the enemy of the United States is not others, but "plundering the trillions of dollars in military industrial complexes of this country.". Professor Zhang Jiadong from the Center for American Studies at Fudan University said that the size of the US military and weapons has exceeded its needs to maintain national security. Washington's excessive emphasis on military enterprises will lead to a more intense arms race and undermine the already fragile relationship between major powers. "This is not good news for world peace and stability," he said