In September 2025, the US Navy conducted a trial launch for an unarmed Trident missile. (Photo from Global Times)

UK think tank the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) recently published its annual report The Military Balance 2026, which mentioned that the US led global defense spending once more in 2025. Teng Jianqun, a military observer, pointed out that by constantly manipulating the geopolitical situation, the US has made huge profits for its defense industry and has been leading global defense spending.

"Although through strategic adjustments, the US has shifted its military development focus to safeguarding its self-proclaimed security of Continental United States (CONUS) and the Western Hemisphere, it will retain its military reach to regions such as the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. Moreover, US President Trump has constantly urged its allies and NATO member states to increase defense spending to reduce US investment in Europe and other regions. There is the idea of militarism haunting at its core," said Teng.

The Polish Patriot air defense systems (Photo from Cankao Xiaoxi)

The report also shows that Europe's defense spending exceeded USD 500 billion in 2025, accounting for approximately 21% of the global total, compared to 17% in 2022. According to Teng, two factors have driven Europe's defense-spending growth. First, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has stimulated some Eastern European countries bordering Russia to raise their defense spending to more than 4% of their GDP respectively. Second, the strategic contraction of the US has pushed Europe toward greater autonomy, compelling Europe to reconsider the option of military expansion and preparedness. In this regard, the most active countries include Germany, Poland, the UK, and France.

For Russia's military expenditure, the report indicates that it consumed over 7.3% of GDP in 2025, more than double the 3.6% share in 2021. Teng believes that Russia's consistently high expenditure is closely linked to its defense development path and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Russia conducted a flight test for its Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile. (Photo from ThePaper.cn)

"Russia attaches great importance to the development of the triad nuclear strike force and has invested heavily in this field, enabling relatively frequent updating of its nuclear arsenal. Furthermore, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict imposes high consumption on Russia concerning improving the welfare of participating troops and purchasing equipment," said Teng.

Global defense spending grew in 2025, reaching USD 2.63 trillion, with a year-on-year growth of 2.5%. Regarding the growth of global defense spending, he said, "Overall, the continuous increase in defense spending directly reflects the deteriorating global peace and security situation, which has an extremely negative impact on regional peace and stability."

Editor's Note: Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.