Global defense spending hits a new record… again | Defense Dollars

Welcome to Defense Dollars, your update on the defense and aerospace markets around the world and what's making the numbers move

Let's dive in. First up, global military spending has reached a new all-time high, hitting nearly $2.9 trillion in 2025, marking the 11th consecutive year of growth

according to new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, known as CIPRI

The surge was led by Europe, where defense spending jumped 14 percent to $864 billion

the highest level ever recorded for the continent. Germany crossed the NATO 2 percent of GDP threshold for the first time since 1990

with spending up 24 percent. Spain's budget leapt 50 percent, and Poland spent 4.5 percent of its GDP on defense

the highest burden of any NATO member. In Asia China posted its 31st consecutive annual spending increase reaching an estimated billion Taiwan reported its largest jump since at least 1988 up 14 Russia and Ukraine also continued to expand outlays with Russia allocating billion

equivalent to 7.5% of GDP, and Ukraine spending a staggering 40% of its entire GDP on defense

notably u.s spending fell 7.5 percent year over year to 954 billion dollars largely because no

new ukraine related supplemental appropriations were passed in 2025 cipri researchers say that

decline is likely short-lived congress has already approved over one trillion dollars for 2026

Elsewhere, the U.S. Air Force is planning to more than double its F-15EX Eagle II fleet

from 129 aircraft to 267 as part of its fiscal year 2027 budget request

The revised plan calls for 24 additional jets next year at a cost of roughly billion Air Force officials say the expansion will first fill out existing F units then begin recapitalizing the aging F

Strike Eagle fleet. The Boeing-built fighter is being framed as a compliment, not a competitor

to Lockheed Martin's F-35A, with officials pointing to its capacity to carry up to 12

air-to-air missiles and its role in Pacific Theater's strike profile. The announcement comes

as the F-15E fleet has absorbed recent combat losses for aircraft lost during Operation Epic

Fury. The Air Force has also proposed retiring 20 older F-15Es in fiscal year 2027 at current

procurement rates of roughly two dozen jets per year, reaching the 267 aircraft target would

EXTEND INTO THE MID 2030s. CONGRESS, WHICH HAS PREVIOUSLY BLOCKED F REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPORTED F FUNDING WILL ULTIMATELY HAVE THE FINAL STAY AND ONE MORE BEFORE YOU GO UKRAINE IS DRAMATICALLY requirements and supported F funding will ultimately have the final stay And one more before you go Ukraine is dramatically scaling up its use of unmanned

ground vehicles, with the defense ministry contracting 25,000 robots in the first half

of 2026 alone. That's more than double the total fielded in all of 2025. Defense Minister

Mikhaila Fedorov announced the target after meeting with domestic manufacturers, saying the

goal is for 100 percent of frontline logistics to be performed by robotic systems. In March alone

Ukrainian forces conducted more than 9,000 missions using unmanned ground vehicles. The

ministry has spent roughly 330 million dollars pushing more than 181,000 drones, UGVs and

electronic warfare systems to the front since January through a digital procurement platform

that allows frontline units to order directly from domestic manufacturers. And that wraps up your defense dollars for this week

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