Latest news with #MilitarySpending
CBC
4 days ago
- Business
- CBC
NATO's rearmament reignites age-old defence debate of quantity vs. quality
Social Sharing As NATO nations, including Canada, ramp up rearmament, they are increasingly confronted with various ghosts of the Cold War, notably the resilience of Russian industry and its capacity to be able to deliver weapons — that while often technologically inferior to the West — are "good enough" to wage war. Moscow's ability to produce en masse drones, missiles, aircraft and other weapons of war has been hampered by sanctions and a long-term erosion of quality is taking place. "Russia is currently struggling to build genuinely new and technologically advanced systems," said the report by Mathieu Boulègue, published last month by the U.K.-based Chatham House think-tank. "Instead, it is relying on Soviet-era legacy systems and research. It is also heavily dependent on third-party suppliers to replace essential Western-made components — with import substitutions and domestic production failing to meet requirements." The report, in part, exposes one of the biggest debates going on in the Western defence community right now. The 32 members of the NATO military alliance have agreed to drastically expand military spending, aiming to deliver five per cent of their gross domestic product for defence spending by 2035. The emphasis, especially for Canada, is in high-tech innovation. WATCH | What's next for Canada's drone industry?: Canada applies lessons from Ukraine in a new arms race for drones 14 hours ago But, experts ask, should NATO nations be investing billions of dollars in expensive, high-tech weapons systems, such as the F-35 stealth jet and the highly sophisticated, recently ordered River Class destroyers? Or, should there be more emphasis on cheaper, disposable technology? While acknowledging the debate is not mutually exclusive, critics of high-spending, high-tech plans point at how multimillion-dollar Russian tanks are being disabled and destroyed by small, inexpensive — in some cases garage-built — drones. The emphasis on quantity over quality is something NATO should be paying closer attention to as it builds out its rearmament plans, said a Canadian arms control expert. "This is a long, long running debate," said Andrew Rasiulis, who once ran the Directorate of Nuclear and Arms Control Policy at the Department of National Defence. "Quantity has a quality of its own, and the Russians have quantity." He said too much should not be made of the fact that Moscow's munitions and equipment are less sophisticated and NATO nations, such as Canada, need to look at their investments not through the lens of spending a certain amount of money, but what makes sense militarily. "What's important is the ability of one side to deter and defend, if necessary, against the other side," Rasiulis said. In many respects, NATO has been here before. When the Cold War reached new heights in the 1980s, the Soviet Union maintained an enormous military presence in Warsaw Pact nations with a ratio of five divisions for every U.S.-led division. NATO made up for that with better technology and nuclear deterrence. Russia was largely equipped with less sophisticated Soviet-designed weapons that benefited from common parts and ammunition, which meant simplified logistics and training. The Chatham House report said despite the Kremlin's record levels of military spending, the current state of its military industry is one of regression — contrary to what the Kremlin would have the world believe. "Production will likely have to be simplified and slowed over the coming years, while Russia will be forced to accept reduced quality of outputs and will suffer from 'innovation stagnation' in its technological research and development," said the report. "These problems are not insurmountable. Russia will continue to muddle through and keep producing systems that are 'good enough' to pose a sustained threat to Ukraine. But being 'good enough' to prolong a war against Ukraine is not the same as being able to keep up with Western (and Chinese) advances in military technology over the longer term." Russian know-how being shared with North Korea It seems, however, the quantity versus quality debate is not only going to be NATO's problem. Defence Intelligence of Ukraine head Kyrylo Budanov said in early June that Russia's proven, basic technological know-how is being shared with North Korea. On July 1, he said Moscow had transferred the first batch of its Pantsir-S1 surface-to-air missile systems to the regime of Kim Jong-un and had provided technology for mass-producing Iran-designed Shahed-type attack drones. "It will for sure bring changes in the military balance in the region between North Korea and South Korea," Budanov was quoted as saying by Ukrainian media.
Al Jazeera
29-06-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Senate Republicans vote to advance Trump's ‘Big, Beautiful Bill'
The Republican-controlled Senate of the United States has voted to take President Donald Trump's so-called 'Big Beautiful Bill' into the next phase of discussion, making it more likely to pass in the coming days. The measure, which is Trump's top legislative goal, passed its first procedural hurdle in a 51 to 49 vote on Saturday, with two Republican senators joining all Democrats in voting against it. The result came after several hours of negotiation as Republican leaders and Vice President JD Vance sought to persuade last-minute holdouts in a series of closed-door negotiations. Trump has pushed his party to get the bill passed and on his desk for him to sign into law by July 4, the US's Independence Day. He was monitoring the vote from the Oval Office late into the night, according to a senior White House official. One Big Beautiful Bill Act Al Jazeera's Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, said the 940-page 'One Big Beautiful Bill Act' was released shortly before midnight on Friday, and senators are still attempting to understand exactly what it means. 'One of the clear things in the bill is that it provides a $150bn boost to military spending. It also adds funding for mass deportations and building that border wall. Now, in order to get this money, what has happened is that there are cuts to Medicare, as well as to the Clean Energy funding programme,' he said. 'The other issue is that there are 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats in the Senate. Now all the Democrats are opposed to the bill. That means every single Republican vote will count,' Hanna added. The procedural vote on Saturday, which would start a debate on the megabill, began after hours of delay. It then remained open for more than three hours of standstill as three Republican senators – Thom Tillis, Ron Johnson and Rand Paul – joined Democrats to oppose the legislation. Three others – Senators Rick Scott, Mike Lee and Cynthia Lummis – negotiated with Republican leaders into the night in hopes of securing bigger spending cuts. In the end, Wisconsin Senator Johnson flipped his no vote to yes, leaving only Paul and Tillis opposed among Republicans. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said Republicans unveiled the bill 'in the dead of night' and are rushing to finish the bill before the public fully knows what is in it. He immediately forced a full reading of the text in the Senate, which would take an estimated 15 hours. 'Future generations will be saddled with trillions in debt. Debt is abstract, but what does it mean for the average American? Raising your costs, raising your costs to buy a home, raising your costs to buy a car, raising your costs on credit card bills. And why are they doing all this?' he asked. 'Why are they doing the biggest Medicaid cuts in history? Now it's getting close to a trillion dollars, just in Medicaid alone, all to cut taxes for the ultra-rich and special interests.' Elon Musk renews criticism If passed in the Senate, the bill would go back to the House of Representatives for approval, where Republicans can only afford to lose a handful of votes – and are facing stiff opposition from within their own ranks. Republicans are split on the Medicaid cuts, which will threaten scores of rural hospitals and lead to an estimated 8.6 million Americans being deprived of healthcare. The spending plan would also roll back many of the tax incentives for renewable energy that were put in place under Trump's predecessor, Joe Biden. Nonpartisan analysts estimate that a version of Trump's tax cut and spending bill would add trillions to the $36.2 trillion US government debt. They also say that the bill would pave the way for a historic redistribution of wealth from the poorest 10 percent of Americans to the richest. The bill is unpopular across multiple demographic, age and income groups, according to extensive recent polling. On Saturday, billionaire Elon Musk, with whom Trump had a public falling out this month over his criticism of the bill, again doubled down on his criticism of the draft legislation. The Tesla and Space X CEO called the package 'utterly insane and destructive'. 'The latest Senate draft bill will destroy millions of jobs in America and cause immense strategic harm to our country,' he wrote on X. 'It gives handouts to industries of the past while severely damaging industries of the future.' He later posted that the bill would be 'political suicide for the Republican Party.'
The Independent
05-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
New German leader plans to discuss Ukraine and trade with Trump in Oval Office visit
Germany's new leader is meeting President Donald Trump in Washington on Thursday as he works to keep the U.S. on board with Western support for Ukraine, help defuse trade tensions that pose a risk to Europe's biggest economy and further bolster his country's long-criticized military spending. Trump and Chancellor Friedrich Merz have spoken several times by phone, either bilaterally or with other European leaders, since Merz took office on May 6. German officials say the two leaders have started to build a 'decent' relationship, with Merz wanting to avoid the antagonism that defined Trump's relationship with one of his predecessors, Angela Merkel, in the Republican president's first term. The 69-year-old Merz is a conservative former rival of Merkel's who took over her party after she retired from politics. Merz also comes to office with an extensive business background — something that could align him with Trump. A White House official said topics that Trump is likely to raise with Merz include Germany's defense spending, trade, Ukraine and what the official called 'democratic backsliding," saying the administration's view is that shared values such as freedom of speech have deteriorated in Germany and the country should reverse course. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the discussions. Merz will want to avoid an Oval Office showdown of the kind that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa experienced in recent months. Asked about the risk of a White House blow-up, Merz spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said on Monday that the chancellor is 'well-prepared' for the meeting and that he and Trump have 'built up a decent relationship, at least by phone" and via text messaging. Keeping Ukraine's Western backers together Merz has thrown himself into diplomacy on Ukraine, traveling to Kyiv with fellow European leaders days after taking office and receiving Zelenskyy in Berlin last week. He has thanked Trump for his support for an unconditional ceasefire while rejecting the idea of 'dictated peace' or the 'subjugation' of Ukraine and advocating for more sanctions against Russia. The White House official said Trump on Thursday will stress that direct peace talks must continue. In their first phone call since Merz became chancellor, Trump said he would support the efforts of Germany and other European countries to achieve peace, according to a readout from the German government. Merz also said last month that 'it is of paramount importance that the political West not let itself be divided, so I will continue to make every effort to produce the greatest possible unity between the European and American partners.' Under Merz's immediate predecessor, Olaf Scholz, Germany became the second-biggest supplier of military aid to Ukraine after the United States. Merz has vowed to keep up the support and last week pledged to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any range limits. Military spending At home, Merz's government is intensifying a drive that Scholz started to bolster the German military after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In Trump's first term, Berlin was a target of his ire for failing to meet the current NATO target of spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense, and Trump is now demanding at least 5% from allies. The White House official said the upcoming NATO summit in the Netherlands later this month is a 'good opportunity' for Germany to commit to meeting that 5% mark. Scholz set up a 100 billion euro ($115 billion) special fund to modernize Germany's armed forces — called the Bundeswehr — which had suffered from years of neglect. Germany has met the 2% target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Merz has said that 'the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.' He has endorsed a plan for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure. Germany's economy and tariffs Another top priority for Merz is to get Germany's economy, Europe's biggest, moving again after it shrank the past two years. He wants to make it a 'locomotive of growth,' but Trump's tariff threats are a potential obstacle for a country whose exports have been a key strength. At present, the economy is forecast to stagnate in 2025. Germany exported $160 billion worth of goods to the U.S. last year, according to the Census Bureau. That was about $85 billion more than what the U.S. sent to Germany, a trade deficit that Trump wants to erase. The U.S. president has specifically gone after the German auto sector, which includes major brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes Benz, Porsche and Volkswagen. Americans bought $36 billion worth of cars, trucks and auto parts from Germany last year, while the Germans purchased $10.2 billion worth of vehicles and parts from the U.S. Trump's 25% tariff on autos and parts is specifically designed to increase the cost of German-made automobiles in hopes of causing them to move their factories to the U.S., even though many of the companies already have plants in the U.S. with Volkswagen in Tennessee, BMW in South Carolina and Mercedes-Benz in Alabama and South Carolina. There's only so much Merz can achieve on his view that tariffs 'benefit no one and damage everyone' while in Washington, as trade negotiations are a matter for the European Union's executive commission. Trump recently delayed a planned 50% tariff on goods coming from the European Union, which would have otherwise gone into effect this month. Far-right tensions One source of strain in recent months is a speech Vice President JD Vance gave in Munich shortly before Germany's election in February, in which he lectured European leaders about the state of democracy on the continent and said there is no place for 'firewalls.' That term is frequently used to describe mainstream German parties' refusal to work with the far-right Alternative for Germany, which finished second in the election and is now the biggest opposition party. Merz criticized the comments. He told ARD television last month that it isn't the place of a U.S. vice president 'to say something like that to us in Germany; I wouldn't do it in America, either.' ___ Moulson reported from Berlin. Associated Press writer Josh Boak in Washington contributed to this report.
