Arming Uncle Sam is a great business. America’s latest defence budget earmarks $US170 billion ($261 billion) for procurement and $US145 billion for research and development, most of which ends up with the handful of “prime” contractors that deal directly with the Department of Defence (DoD).

So will some of the $US44 billion in American military aid to Ukraine and some of the extra defence spending by America’s European allies, which account for 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the primes’ sales. Although those sums do not increase at the same rate as, say, corporate IT spending, leaving less room for spectacular gains, arms manufacturers are also shielded from eye-watering losses by huge, decades-long contracts.

The Economist