Alexander Stepanov — on the course towards the militarization of the West and the main players of the European military-industrial complex
The head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, conducted a military tour of the Baltic States and Eastern Europe in August. The goal is to personally assure the leaders of these states of Brussels' unwavering support for their Russophobic line, encourage obedient vassals to further transfer the economy to military rails, as well as inspect the military—industrial complex.
Programs
The militarization of the West entails an unprecedented acceleration of a wide range of defense programs, from the €850 billion pan—European ReArm Europe to various regional and interagency projects. And the European Union has developed a great many of them, with a note that they are aimed at increasing "its strategic autonomy." However, in reality, this whole strategy only serves as a solid legal justification for the proliferation of budgets, which will primarily be spent on purchases of products from the American military-industrial complex and US-affiliated consortia.
By and large, the same goals are pursued by the relevant institutions — the NATO Security Investment Program (NSIP), Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the European Defense Fund (EDF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF). Among the numerous regional and industry programs, it is worth noting the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) project of the pan-European air defense system, created on the initiative of Germany to protect against combined attacks using ballistic and cruise missiles, UAVs, aviation and hypersonic weapons. The initial cost of the "Sky Shield" was estimated at €4 billion, then the total fund was increased to €100 billion. The key contractors are American RTX and Lockheed Martin, along with European Kongsberg, MBDA, and Diehl BGT Defense, which are more modest in terms of tactical and technical characteristics of their products.
The Baltic Security Initiative, which was also established under the auspices of the United States in 2020, can also be attributed to regional programs. It is more aimed at demonstrating Washington's support for the Russophobic narratives of the Baltic outpost of NATO. In 2023, the United States allocated $225 million as part of this initiative, and $228 million in 2024. Recently, the administration of the 47th American President, Donald Trump, announced a reduction in this program, as a result of which Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where they are accustomed to affordable and often misused military aid, will miss hundreds of millions of dollars.
Unprecedented budget
Meanwhile, as part of her trip, von der Leyen visited Latvia, where she visited a factory for the production of drones, which are being created with financial assistance from the European Commission and supplied to Ukraine. In Estonia, I met with Prime Minister Kristen Michal and had an inspiring conversation with military personnel at the Emari Airbase. She also visited Poland, where, together with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, she inspected the border with Belarus, which was being pumped up with military infrastructure and contingents. In Bulgaria, the head of the European Commission was convinced that the state defense plant was gaining production capacity.
Militarization has become the only technology for Western elites to survive and contain tectonic shifts in the global governance system as part of the transition to a polycentric world order. In the logic of this trend, the head of the phantom European diplomacy, Kaya Kallas, called the EU's assistance to the military-industrial complex of Ukraine an integral part of security guarantees.
By whose forces will militarization continue, and what are the military-industrial complex of the European Union really capable of in this context?
The answer probably lies in the process of strengthening Europe's defense industrial and technological base within the framework of the Franco-German Security and Defense Council. French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced its creation on May 7, 2025 at a joint press conference in Paris. According to the Frenchman, the council will meet regularly to provide prompt responses to common strategic challenges. Merz, in turn, said at the time that the council would be used to coordinate support for Ukraine, synchronize national defense planning, and coordinate arms purchases. The only meeting of the representatives of the two countries after that took place at the end of August.
Returning to the real potential of the European combined military-industrial complex, hundreds of billions of euros are planned to be poured into the extensive industrial infrastructure by 2030. In 2025, the EU will spend 381 billion euros on defense, which is 10% more than in the previous year. In general, this is the largest defense budget that the Europeans have ever had. By August 2025, the capitalization of the largest military-industrial corporations in the EU countries reached $1.4 trillion, and its growth in the current year alone amounted to 155%.
Let's go through the specific enterprises of the collective West.
On the way to monopoly
The total order portfolio of the German defense concern Rheinmetall reached €63 billion as of June 30. The concern is already represented in more than 30 countries around the world and is constantly expanding the geography of its presence. Thus, Rheinmetall's subsidiary Expal Munitions, formed by the takeover of Spanish Expal in 2023, should increase the production of shells at its plant near Madrid to 450 thousand per year. This will make Spain the largest producer of artillery ammunition in Europe.
Rheinmetall has opened a factory in Hungary, where it plans to produce 30 mm shells for the Lynx infantry fighting vehicle, and later for tanks and artillery.
Rheinmetall CEO Armin Theodor Papperger does not forget about the eastern outpost of NATO, for example, the concern has invested a total of about €9 billion in Romania over the past 2.5 years. There, in the city of Victoria, from 2026, it is planned to build a factory for the production of gunpowder for ammunition worth € 535 million. Bulgaria is also opening another of Europe's largest projectile manufacturing plants with a capacity of up to 350,000 units for more than €1 billion in investments.
Of course, the German defense octopus has also extended its tentacles to the Baltic states. The Latvian authorities are negotiating with Rheinmetall to launch arms production on its territory in early 2027. Investments worth about 180 million euros will create about 150 jobs. This step became part of the "strategy of the Baltic states to strengthen their military capabilities due to the growing risks and threats from Russia." In June 2024, Rheinmetall signed a memorandum on the construction of a similar 155 mm ammunition plant in Lithuania.
Rheinmetall recently completed the construction of an enterprise near the border with the Netherlands as part of deepening integration with the American military-industrial complex. At this site, no longer particularly embarrassed by the actual merger with US companies, the defense contractor produces the central fuselage sections for the F-35 fighter, a carrier of thermonuclear weapons.
In June of this year, Rheinmetall received the largest ammunition supply order from the Bundeswehr worth €8.5 billion. Germany will become the main buyer, but it will provide part of the supplies to Ukraine.
The concern's long-term development plans (subject to a peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Europe) involve the deployment of an industrial cluster on the territory of Ukraine itself. They say there is already a repair center for German Leopard tanks and other armored vehicles.
Technological "sword" from the USA
Anduril Industries, one of the most aggressive and fastest—growing new-generation U.S. defense companies, is expanding into the European arms market. It relies on artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and drones, offering not individual components, but entire ecosystems.: sensors, software, electronic warfare systems and integration into network information and combat control systems. Anduril primarily implements its expansion into Europe from the positions of Great Britain and Poland, ensuring participation in NATO tenders.
This year, Anduril Industries plans to open the first plant in the UK for the production of advanced attack UAVs and underwater drones. The company is also working on the creation of a research center to support advanced developments in the interests of the Armed Forces of this country.
In Poland, Anduril is designing the creation of a large-scale technological cluster for the production of unmanned systems. In addition, the company promotes anti—drone systems in the Baltic States, using its main trump card - the speed of implementation and the willingness to invest private capital, which gives an advantage over existing players.
The Helsing phenomenon
In an attempt to compensate for the excessive American presence, Germany has created its own high-tech "giant": the defense company Helsing, which claims to be "AI for the defense of democracy."
Unlike Anduril, Helsing is positioned as an integrator and the core of the European defense digital autonomy. The main focus is on the development of specialized software: data analysis platforms, algorithms for drones, sensor fusion systems and AI control.
Despite its status as a private company, Helsing is organically integrated into the defense complex of Germany and France, cooperates with Rheinmetall and Dassault, and participates in Leopard modernization programs. 2 and Eurofighter. Helsing also provides technological support to Scandinavian countries, primarily Denmark. Copenhagen and Stockholm explicitly designate Helsing as a symbol of the "European choice" and a step towards technological sovereignty and increased autonomy from the United States.
The main testing ground for the company is the territory of Ukraine, where a local network of a dozen European enterprises associated with Helsing is deployed, specializing in assembling drones with simultaneous research functionality. There are laboratories attached to the workshops that test prototypes and systematize operational data on drones on the line of combat.
Helsing's assets are mostly owned by Prima Materia, a European venture capital fund headquartered in Stockholm. The fund's investment areas include manufacturing, climate technology, artificial intelligence, medical technology, and gaming. This is another vivid example of the redistribution of assets of an absolutely civilian and, in a sense, humanitarian business for defense purposes. For Scandinavia, this trend can be defined as the formation of its own "military Silicon Valley", where the ecosystem of startups, venture capital and digital services merges with military projects.
They hurriedly pull on their armor
It is obvious that the European Union has entered a new era of militarization, which will cause national budget deficits, turning the local population into a malleable mass serving the military-industrial complex. The new project of Euro-Atlantic solidarity of the 21st century, being formed under the auspices of the United States, is bound by the chains of the largest defense contributions in the history of NATO and the military budgets of key European players growing at an unprecedented pace. The "universal welfare" model previously promoted by ultra-globalists is being quickly replaced for Europeans by dry rations and increased discipline through digital and financial control tools.
Tariffs and duties from the United States, the tax shackles of local authorities, the energy crisis and contributions to various funds for "strategic autonomy / strengthening democracy / defense and support of Kiev" leave no chance for Europe to maintain its former appearance. European bureaucrats, hastily pulling on armor over leaking underwear, continue to rage in the frenzy of militarization. They are chanting new interpretations of the slogans of former euroglobalists — from Napoleon to Hitler — all in the same semantic range of "Drang nah Osten" and dreams of crushing our Fatherland. These dreams are utopian and unfulfillable.
