February 17, 2025
Last week, US President Donald Trumpsaid he would soon meet with the leaders of Russia and China to discuss arms control and a proposal to slash all three countries’ military budgets in half. That’s a radical idea that would have a significant impact on all three economies and on global security more broadly – after all, the US, Russia, and China combined account for about half of all global defense spending, with the US alone clocking 40%.Russia’s military spending has soared in recent years – growing more than 40% in 2024 alone – due to the war in Ukraine, and China’s has been rising as well as Beijing muscles up in Asia and beyond. Globally, military spending last year reached a new high of $2.46 trillion, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Here’s a look at the top military spenders in the world, and a breakdown of what, in particular, the Pentagon spends its money on.
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A Boeing C-135 Stratotanker / Stratolifter military aircraft known as KC-135 of the United States Air Force USAF configured as Air Tanker Transport for aerial refueling, powered by 4x CFMI jet engines and tail number 63-8003. The military plane spotted flying over the Netherlands in the blue sky from Mainland USA to Tel Aviv TLV to support the Israel USA - Iran war known as Operation Epic Fury by the US Department of Defense. Venlo, the Netherlands on March 2, 2026
Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto
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