TEHRAN (Iran News) –  According to the United Nations, around 14 million people have fled their homes in Ukraine. Nearly seven million have left for neighboring countries, including Russia, with another eight million who are considered internally displaced people.

As Ukrainian civilians suffer, Western arms companies and U.S. weapons manufacturers in particular are expected to be the biggest beneficiaries of the fighting.

The crisis in Ukraine has seen Western governments send the country different types of military equipment worth billions of dollars.

The fear is that in most cases, the taxpayer will have to pay for these weapons and effectively for a conflict that they did not even support.

Many analysts have blamed Washington for failing to respond to security guarantees that Moscow had sent months before the conflict even started: the key element that triggered the fighting and unfolding crisis in Ukraine.

Experts say the United States’ reluctance to end the conflict has led to a large amount of profit for its arms manufacturers.

Since the fighting started, NATO countries have pledged more than $8 billion in military equipment for Ukraine, with $4.6 billion coming from the U.S. alone. The United Kingdom has allocated at least £750 million in weapons, while the European Union has agreed to send €2 billion.

As Washington and some of it’s Western allies seek to prolong the conflict, that figure is expected to rise. With almost every passing week or so; the U.S. and the UK in particular have been announcing more weapons for Ukraine instead of seeking or pushing for a peaceful solution to the conflict.

New reports have been emerging about the huge profits being made by Western arms manufacturers.

Senior arms transfer researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Siemon Wezeman, says not all the weapons being sent to Ukraine are from existing military supplies.

While some countries have been sending older equipment that was about to expire, many on the other hand, like the United States and the United Kingdom, have been sending newer weapons which they have already started the process of replacing.

The U.S. has already approved nine billion dollars to spend on military equipment so that the weapons being sent to Ukraine can be replaced.

Washington is sending 6,500 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, which are made by two of the largest American arms manufacturers, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. The cost of each of these missiles is about $78,000 and the launcher for these missiles (which is reusable) costs $100,000 each.

Another bonus for Raytheon will come from the U.S. decision to send 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft missile launchers.
The company has already been awarded a $625m contracts to replenish the stocks.

Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin has been receiving even better news after Washington announced plans to provide Ukraine with four High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which are relatively expensive.  Lockheed Martin also produces the launchers for long-range rockets that are being sent by the UK.

The U.S. is sending counter-artillery radar systems made by the same companies, along with American military arms giant Northrop Grumman.

The Pentagon is also sending 50 billion rounds of ammunition, which is likely to benefit Olin, the U.S. militarily’s largest small-arms ammunition supplier.

Another key item is the AeroVironment Switchblade drones, made by the American company AeroVironment. The U.S. is set to deliver 700 of these drones.

Meanwhile, In Europe, the big winners are expected to include BAE Systems (a British company) and Thales (a French company).

The British company BAE Systems manufactures almost all of the UK’s small-arms ammunition and is about to replace the 400,000 rounds sent to Ukraine.

BAE Systems also manufacturers long-range artillery cannons being sent by the U.S., as well as anti-tank guided missiles being sent by France and Italy. They are being produced in a joint venture with Airbus and Leonardo.

Another key piece of equipment manufactured by BAE Systems, which has factories across the UK, is the Stormer armoured vehicle. The UK is providing Ukraine with these as well.

The vehicles include anti-aircraft missiles, which are made in Britain by Thales.

Thales is also the manufacturer of the Next Generation Light Anti-Tank Weapon (NLAW), a shoulder-launched missile system that can target Russian tanks. The UK is providing Ukraine more than 5,000 of them. They are reported to cost £30,000 each.

Germany’s Dynamit Nobel arms manufacturer has sent the 3,000 anti-tank weapons Berlin is providing Kyiv, along with 5,100 MATADOR anti-tank weapons.

Large arms manufacturing companies are already seeing their share prices go up as investors anticipate the impact of the war on profits.

Thales shares have risen by 35 percent since the conflict started, while BAE Systems shares are up 32 percent. Lockheed Martin has seen an increase of 14 percent and AeroVironment 63 percent.

The Campaign Against the Arms Trade, says the provision of weapons to Ukraine is “not problem-free”

“You might think you’re handing over weapons to people you know and like, but then they get sold on to people you absolutely don’t,” the anti-war group said.

Wezeman says weapons supplied to Ukraine “may end up disappearing into the black market” – an increased risk given that the country “isn’t in full control of its territory”.

He says it is difficult to keep track of weapons when they have to be supplied at such speed and there is a risk of them getting “lost or disappearing in the chaos”.

That doesn’t appear to be a matter of concern for Washington and its allies.

U.S. defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, has previously admitted that some weapons given to Ukraine have been captured by the Russian military.

Replenishing the stocks being sent to Ukraine is not the only new business opportunity for Western arms manufacturers.

Analysts say the international community is facing increased pressure and threats of sanctions from the West which is calling on them to stop purchasing Russian arms.

Experts say there is even more money to be made as states respond to the fighting in Ukraine by increasing their military spending, a lot of which will be used for new equipment.

According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, since the conflict started, at least 15 European countries have announced plans to increase their defense spending. According to the EU, the additional commitments are worth at least €200 billion.

Germany’s pledge to spend an extra €100 billion euros in the coming years has made the most headlines. It’s good news for Rheinmetall, a German arms manufacturer, which is expecting its sales to grow by up to 25 percent by next year.

Germany has also announced it will buy 35 F-35 fighter jets from the U.S., which are made by Lockheed Martin and have an estimated lifetime cost of $1.6 trillion.

France has pledged to expand its military budget. The UK government had already planned increases and is facing calls from the main Labour opposition party to spend even more.

After a NATO summit in March, the military alliance said its members “have decided to accelerate our efforts to fulfill our commitment to the [so-called] Defense Investment Pledge in its entirety.”

This calls on all members to meet NATO guidelines of spending at least two percent of GDP on the military alliance within a decade. Some NATO members had resisted the shift in policy, an issue that previously irked the former U.S. President Donald Trump.

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TEHRAN (Iran News) –   The United States’ Labor Department has announced that inflation has hit another record high level since 1981, rising 8.5 percent over the year to the end of March as the conflict in Ukraine drives up energy costs for average households.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the prices of a basket of goods and services, comes after the prices rose by 7.9 percent in the year through February.

That means America is witnessing the fastest pace of annual inflation in 40 years.

To put that into perspective, the rise in prices of goods and services is now at levels not seen in the U.S. since Ronald Reagan took over the Presidency of Jimmy Carter.

Amid rising energy prices as a result of the Ukraine conflict; continuing supply chain problems and soaring demand are other factors weighing in.

The price increases are quite wide with the cost of rent, gas, and food causing the most hardship for lower and poorer class American households who are being affected the most.

Motorists at the gas pumps are facing soaring prices, which was the biggest component of the latest price rises. The gasoline index rose 18.3 percent in March and accounted for more than half of all the items’ monthly increase.

According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), nationally the average price of a gallon of gas is now $4.11, compared with $2.86 a year ago.

The crisis in Ukraine which many have accused the U.S.-led NATO military alliance of instigating has rocked energy prices after Washington and its Western allies banned all Russian gas and oil supplies.

Then comes the food index which rose another one percent in March compared with February, and is up 8.8 percent compared with the prior 12 months.

Chicken parts rose 15.1 percent, citrus fruits, including lemons, limes, and grapefruits, climbed 19.5 percent. The prices for oranges and tangerines rose 18.3 percent.

The price of rice rose an extra 3.2 percent from February to March, while canned fruit and vegetable prices rose 3.8 percent, potatoes 3.2 percent, and ground beef 2.1 percent.

Experts say the latest figures will be a major setback for the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The Biden White House has already lost popularity and Democrats are widely expected to face a very touch challenge in trying to retain control of Congress in November’s midterm elections.

Earlier this week, the White House tried to cushion the blow by issuing a warning ahead of the March data release saying it was expecting a bad set of figures.

Biden even deflected the blame for America’s economic mess on the Russian President Vladimir Putin saying “I am doing everything in within my executive power to bring down the Putin price hike.”

Last year critics denounced Biden’s “Build Back Better” plan to fix the economy saying it would have imposed the largest tax increase in over 50 years.

Some Democrat Senators joined Republicans to reject the bill but despite the heavy blow, the U.S. President is refusing to abandon his tax agenda.

Biden’s latest proposal to tackle inflation includes the same tax hikes he proposed last year. Analysts say the plan is a path toward higher inflation and an economic recession.

Biden claims his tax increases are aimed at corporations and millionaires, but critics say they would in fact hurt American workers, families, and job creators during a time of economic uncertainty.

Even Senator Bernie Sanders has questioned how Biden’s plans will benefit the poor and not millionaires.

Expert economists believe the latest inflation figures are likely to strengthen the Federal Reserve’s resolve to increase interest rates as it struggles to control inflation levels.

However, history shows that doesn’t exactly fix the problem.

With higher interest rates there also comes a negative impact on the stock market. Rises in the Fed rates make borrowing money in the market more expensive and the cost of doing business rises for public and private companies; which in turn results in layoffs and and higher unemployment rate across the county.

Adding to the economic hardship, Americans are not even receiving their tax refunds on time at a time when inflation is hurting family budgets.

Observers are arguing it is important that Americans at least receive their own money back on time to ease their financial problems.

The Internal Revenue Service says it is still backlogged after extensive pandemic delays and does not expect to finish processing the returns until the end of the year.

But can Americans afford to wait months to receive their own money back from their government?

Analysts say this can be easily fixed by all federal employees returning to the office; many of whom are still working from home.

According to the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, Inflation-adjusted earnings for the first quarter of 2022 show that American workers are losing ground, forcing a larger percent of the workforce out of a living-wage job status for the month of March and into the ranks of the “functionally unemployed.”

The Think Tank says “being forced to make decisions between food and shelter versus healthcare and education is not a sustainable long-term situation for a healthy society.”

Meanwhile, in Europe, prices in the eurozone have risen 7.5 percent in March from a year earlier.

Again it’s a surge Europeans have not seen in four decades and it far exceeds the central bank’s target of 2 percent.

Like America, inflation is being fueled by energy prices, which soared 45 percent last month from a year earlier.

According to the President of the European Central Bank Christine Lagarde, energy prices are expected to remain high in the near term and then “moderate to some extent.”

Food prices are also rising sharply because of higher transportation costs and the elevated price of fertilizer, of which Russia is a top producer.

The European Central Bank says overall, price increases are becoming more widespread.

The bank is literally stuck between a rock and hard place. On the one hand, high inflation means it has the space to withdraw stimulus measures. But the worsening economic growth outlook means there are major risks to tighten monetary policy.

If the Central Bank raises interest rates it could cool the economy too much when economic growth is already slowing and pointing towards a recession.

It’s a similar dilemma facing the Fed in the U.S. and also similar to America, the European Central Bank says the conflict in Ukraine is “weighing heavily on the confidence of businesses and consumers.”

Trade disruptions are leading to new shortages of materials, and surging energy and commodity prices are holding back production, it added.

Lagarde says “while risks relating to the pandemic have declined, the war may have an even stronger effect on economic sentiment.”

Concerns about the future of the economy are particularly stark in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, because of its heavy reliance on Russian energy.

Late last month, economic advisers to the German government said the outlook had “worsened sharply” because of the war, with a growing risk of recession along with higher inflation rates.

Outside the Eurozone, the UK is also facing similar crises, related to higher inflation, especially oil prices.

It’s a very bleak economic outlook for the West with concerns about skyrocketing gas prices across the U.S. and Europe becoming a major worry for Americans and Europeans this year.

How do you replace Russian gas? helping in the efforts to find a peaceful solution to the war in Ukraine is a good first step.

Lifting sanctions on major oil-producing countries is a close second.

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