WW3: What will happen on year zero?
U.S. Senate passes record $858 billion defense act, sends to Biden's desk.
That would be enough to defeat Russia, China, Iran, and their proxies worldwide.
Pacifist Japan unveils the most considerable military buildup since World War Two.
TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) - Japan on Friday unveiled its most significant military buildup since World War Two with a $320 billion plan that will buy missiles capable of striking China and ready it for sustained conflict, as regional tensions and Russia's Ukraine invasion stoke war fears.
The sweeping, five-year plan, once unthinkable in pacifist Japan, will make the country the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China, based on current budgets.
Vietnam
U.S. angers Russia and China by discussing arms sale to Vietnam
Vietnam is currently 80% dependent on Russia for arms, but the Americans believe this will change soon!
Many American companies are looking for solutions to export arms to the country!
After North Vietnam's victory in the Vietnam War, the country maintained a communist government. However, the Soviets were on their side during the war, and since then, Vietnam and Russia have developed diplomatic relations.
But now things may change.
According to an exclusive Reuters report this week, several U.S. defense companies are discussing supplying military equipment to Vietnam, including helicopters and drones.
Here, the Asian country does not have the best relations with China.
If what Reuters says is true, Vietnam may be looking for a way to reduce its arms dependence on Russia.
In particular, U.S. companies Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Textron, and I.M. Systems Group are said to have met with Vietnamese officials at a recent arms exhibition in the country.
But how could a country like Vietnam receive both Russian and American weapons?
How would Russia react?
The U.S. should think carefully about its moves, the effects of which may worsen America's and Vietnam's relations with China.
We are still determining how calm Beijing will remain if it sees the increase of American weapons in the region.
Poland
Poland feels justified in its tough anti-Russian stance, invests in the armed forces, and claims a significant power role.
But, there are obstacles in this path.
In Europe, a new military superpower appears to be emerging.
At least as far as ground conventional forces are concerned. And this is none other than Poland.
The Polish government has decided to raise the percentage of GDP that goes to defense spending to 3%, well above the 2% that the U.S. has set as a condition for NATO member states and which few relevant states have achieved.
It has embarked on a colossal arms program, buying mainly from the U.S. and South Korea.
In August 2022, he signed a 4.9 billion deal to buy 250 armored Abrams from the U.S. to replace the Soviet tanks it sent to Ukraine.
It has signed a $4.6 billion deal to supply 32 F-35s and has ordered $10-12 billion worth of weapons systems from South Korea, which make up the first package, with the main armament program being 1,000 Korean armored K2s and 600 K9 guns.
The goal of the Polish government is for its armed forces to reach 300,000 by 2030, thus having a much larger armed force than Germany, which currently has around 170,000.
It has also invested in forming national guard forces, not professional soldiers, but after a short training serve if called.
These "weekend soldiers" were initially treated with great caution, but the opinion is now different after the example of how Ukraine uses such units.
Poland currently has the largest army in the European Union and one of the largest in NATO.
The prospect of Poland having the largest NATO army in Europe arises because this is a responsibility that Germany does not want to assume, even now that there has supposedly been a significant shift in its defense doctrine and a shift back to large equipment.
And that's because it currently only spends around 1.5% of GDP annually on defense.
There is, of course, the decision on the 100 billion euro defense investment fund. However, the debate is still ongoing as to whether it should maintain the 2% rate after this defense spending package.
The insistence on the hard offensive line against Russia.
But it is not only the Polish government's decision to invest in the armed forces that reflects this determination to claim a more elevated role in European affairs.
It is also that the country feels justified in the offensive line against Russia.
Like the other "enlargement countries" with a socialist past, Poland has traditionally had a particularly hostile attitude towards Russia; after all, there is also the whole past concerning Tsarist Russia and the perspective of the USSR.
It is simply trying to shape a scheme where its aggressive stance has been far more justified than the "appeasement" line chosen by countries like Germany and France, which failed to prevent Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
It is no coincidence that Poland claims a leading role among the countries currently pushing for even more excellent Western support for the Ukrainian war effort, essentially for greater Western military involvement with the prospect of Russia's defeat.
This position was also seen in his confrontation about the Patriot missiles with Germany.
We recall when Germany offered Patriot anti-ballistic missile arrays to bolster Poland's air defenses.
Poland initially rejected the proposal, arguing that it would be preferable to send the arrays to Ukraine, which of course, Berlin did not want, as it would essentially violate the "red line" of NATO, which is to avoid more direct involvement in military operations.
In the end, Poland accepts the German offer, but the confrontation is quite telling.
For the first time, defense spending in Europe exceeded 200 billion euros in 2021, as announced by the European Defense Agency (EDA).
In particular, according to the organization's annual report, the defense expenditures of the 26 European Defense Organization member countries reached 214 billion euros last year - and before the war in Ukraine.
This number is a 6% increase compared to spending recorded in 2020.
Finland, Greece, and Slovenia are the three countries that increased their defense spending the most, by 42%, 33%, and 27%, respectively.
However, defense spending is growing more slowly than GDP growth in Europe. Nevertheless, they still account for 1.5% of the GDP of the 26 EDA member states, up from (1.4% in 2019).
However, European defense spending is far behind the United States (3.5%) and Russia (3.7%), while China is close to European countries (1.6%).
In 2021, the United States was by far the most significant defense spender (€686 billion), followed by China (€241 billion) and Russia (€56 billion).
The member states of the European Defense Organisation.
"they will still need to spend an additional €68 billion to meet the 2% GDP defense spending guideline," the EDA says in its report.
The Agency also found that the 26 European states were increasing their investment in arms purchases and preparing for the future to equip their armies (a record amount of 52 billion euros (27 billion in 2014), including 43 billion for arms purchases and 9 billion euros for Research and Development).
This result is a 16% increase compared to 2020. This investment spending represents 24% of total defense spending.
Nineteen member states reached the 20% defense investment threshold in 2021, with only one allocating less than 10% of defense spending to defense investment.
"Continued increases in defense investment will be needed to equip Europe's militaries with high-end capabilities and close, long-standing capability gaps," the EDA noted in its report.
In 2021, defense R&D spending reached €3.6 billion, a whopping 41% increase compared to 2020. Germany and France account for over 80% of total defense R&D spending.
Compared to the historically low level of spending recorded in 2016 (€1.3 billion), defense R&D spending has almost tripled. To reach the 2% R&D threshold, Member States must spend an additional €725 million.
The Agency regrets that spending on joint European programs is at most 18% of total defense equipment purchases.
And this is despite an increase from 11% in 2020. "Very little is spent on defense cooperation," said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.
European countries have, however, committed to devoting 35% of their purchases to European programs carried out in cooperation.
A commitment that remains a long way off and "will require almost doubling the current investments in this sector" to reach the amount of 15.1 billion euros.
In 2021, Member States allocated a "record amount" of €7.9 billion to joint European projects.
This is almost double compared to the €4.1 billion recorded in 2020.
China
And the other big player on the international stage the way of extensive defense equipment.
China has announced from March 2022 a significant increase in military spending amid global tensions reignited by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and its traditional rivalry with Taiwan and those areas bordering the South China Sea.
The military budget will therefore increase by 7.1 percent this year, the finance ministry announced at the start of the annual plenary session of the National People's Congress (NPC, China's parliament).
This percentage is higher than last year (+6.8%).
This is the most substantial increase since 2019 (+7.5%).
With this budget of 1.450 billion yuan ($230 billion), China has the second largest defense budget in the world after the United States ($740 billion planned for 2022).
Above all, growth in Chinese military spending is significantly higher than the expected GDP growth, set on Saturday by Premier Li Keqiang at 5.5% this year.
The increase comes as global tensions escalated last week over Russia's intervention in Ukraine, which Beijing has so far refused to condemn, saying it "understands" Moscow's security concerns.
During Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing in early February 2022, the two countries spoke out against NATO expansion.
For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping received his neighbor's support to denounce the United States' "negative influence on peace and stability" in the Asia-Pacific region.
Beijing continues to raise its voice to attack the rival regime in Taiwan, the island it considers one of its provinces, and reserves the right to take over by force.
Last year, the communist regime stepped up incursions into Taiwan's air defense reconnaissance zone, particularly in response to visits by top U.S. officials to the island.
Also, last month, Xi Jinping ordered all military units to conduct "combat-oriented exercises" and improve their capabilities.
China's military buildup has drawn repeated mistrust from neighboring nations, fueled by a lack of transparency about what the military budget covers.
China thus claims its sovereignty in the South China Sea (concerning Vietnam and the Philippines in particular), in the East China Sea (in the Senkaku Islands controlled by Japan), as well as in the Himalayas (opposite "India.").
The United States regularly sends warships to the South China Sea to thwart Beijing's territorial claims and to support local leaders near Taiwan.
In this context, Beijing's military modernization matches Washington's technological advances.
According to the Pentagon, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched a supersonic glider last year, which circled the Earth at more than 6,000 km/h. distance.
The device will also be able to launch missiles during its journey, which has taken the Americans by surprise, as Washington does not yet have this type of weaponry.!
"The PLA is the powerful arm of the Chinese Communist Party, and the party leadership needs the military's continued support. One of the ways to achieve this is to demonstrate that the needs of the PLA remain a priority," said James Char, a defense expert at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
For its part, the Chinese military is prioritizing the modernization of its equipment "to become a fully mechanized and electronic force."
The year zero.
Everyone is preparing for a major world war in 2023 or shortly after.
Will it be between states and allied coalitions or against an invasion from space?
Only time will tell what will happen to those who survive after the big event that will usher in Year Zero.
@world.war.3.2023
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