Europe is increasingly buying US weapons – one of the most prominent countries

European countries have significantly increased their spending on US military technology since 2020. Purchases reached a record $76 billion last year, according to new analysis by the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

Data cited by the Kyiv Independent shows that after a decade of low defense spending, Europe has become America’s main customer in the past five years.

Massive increase in recent years

The reason is our own arsenal and increased support for Ukraine. “Part of the story is that European countries need to give Ukraine more US weapons. The other part is that President Trump now wants European governments to pay for all the weapons for Ukraine,” Bruegel’s Juan Mejino-López told the Kyiv Independent.

According to the data, from 2022 to 2024, 51 percent of European NATO countries’ military spending went to US weapons, a significant increase compared to 28 percent between 2019 and 2021.

Poland is the largest buyer of American weapons

Poland alone accounts for 30 percent of European demand and invested $55 billion in American military equipment such as aircraft, air defense systems and battle tanks. According to the National Security Journal, Warsaw recently greatly increased its missile orders from America.

The majority of sales are made through the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program, through which the US government notifies Congress of planned arms deals. Other military donations or assistance, such as that provided as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, are not included in the data.

Europe is looking for alternatives

Some US weapons systems are considered unrivaled. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed in Brussels in October that there was virtually no alternative to the American Patriot system, which is used to defend against Russian missile attacks.

Nevertheless, European countries and the EU are seeking to expand their own weapons production to reduce dependence on the US.