US arms sales overseas reaches historic high of $238 billion in 2023

The amount of weapons that the US sold to other countries went up a lot last year. It reached a record of $238 billion because Russia invaded Ukraine and caused more countries to want to buy weapons.

The US government made deals to sell $81 billion worth of stuff, which is 56% more than last year, according to the state department.

Other sales were made by US defense companies directly to other countries.

Poland, which is next to Ukraine, is buying a lot of new military equipment.

Poland spent $12 billion on Apache helicopters, $10 billion on High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, and $3. 75 billion on M1A1 Abrams tanks, according to a report for the US government’s fiscal year that ended in October.

It also used $4 billion on a system for controlling battles against air and missile attacks.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk promised to keep upgrading Poland’s military, as the previous government planned to make it the strongest in Europe.

Can Himars missiles help Ukraine win against Russia.

Meanwhile, Germany spent $8. 5 billion on Chinook helicopters. Bulgaria spent $1. 5bn on Stryker armored vehicles and Norway purchased $1bn worth of multi-purpose helicopters.

The Czech Republic spent $5. 6 billion to purchase F-35 jets and weapons.

The state department said that selling weapons and trading in defense equipment are important tools for US foreign policy. These actions could have big effects on security in different parts of the world for a long time.

Sales increased because countries are buying fewer weapons from Russia, which used to be the second biggest seller of weapons after the US for many years. This information was shared by the person in charge of the department’s arms transfers office.

Mira Resnick from Politico said that the Russian defense industry is not doing well and it is not getting the money it needs from selling weapons to other countries.

President Joe Biden’s team says that helping Ukraine can make money for America by selling weapons there. However, American politicians are becoming more likely to stop giving direct help to Ukraine. Many Republicans want to make aid to Ukraine depend on changing the US immigration laws.

On Wednesday, the Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will go to a Lockheed Martin missile facility in Alabama to show how important the US defence industry is to the alliance.

Outside Europe, the report said that South Korea spent $5 billion on F-35 jets and Australia spent $6. 3 billion on C130J-30 Super Hercules planes. Japan made a deal to buy an E-2D Hawkeye surveillance plane for $1 billion.