- [Narrator] Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine
in late February,
many NATO members, including the US,
Germany and Poland have pledged support
in the form of money.
- $800 million.
- 600 Danish krones.
- 300 million pounds.
- [Narrator] And weapons.
- Canada will be sending heavy artillery.
- [Narrator] And in addition to aid,
some in the Western military alliance
are also boosting their own defenses.
- Germany pulled out all the stops.
They're buying heavy cargo military helicopters.
They're going to modernize the armed forces
across the board.
- Those immediately bordering Ukraine,
I'm thinking Romania here and Poland as well,
they're talking about tanks,
they're talking very specifically
about anti-missile systems.
- [Narrator] So as Russia unleashes new threats,
raising concerns that the war could escalate outside
of Ukraine, here's how some NATO countries
are looking to upgrade their military capabilities.
One major step to strengthen the West's ability
to deter Moscow was announced by Germany.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the country
would boost military spending above 2% of GDP
and invest the equivalent of $113 billion in weaponry.
This graph illustrates that spike
in Germany's defense spending.
- They're buying F-35s.
That's sort of the most modern
jet fighter war plane produced by the United States
and many, if not most of the NATO members
are using it at the moment.
- [Narrator] The aircraft is popular
with NATO countries because of its ability
to evade radar detection.
Its aligned edges contribute to that ability.
It can also carry weapons internally or externally,
including long-range precision missiles,
depending on the environment.
It can reach a speed of mach 1.6
and has an extended range of more than 1,350 miles
with internal fuel.
The F-35s will replace aging Tornado aircraft
in Germany's arsenal.
Many countries in Western Europe,
including Germany reduced their military capabilities
after the Cold War.
- I think lessons learned from Ukraine
and the invasion was that countries
are now looking at where to strategically stockpile weapons
and ensuring that they have the correct capabilities
for the threat.
- [Narrator] As countries such as Germany
shift their defense priorities,
in the east of Europe, nations have been preparing
for a potential conflict for longer.
- For many decades, for years,
the eastern flank of NATO countries
like Poland, countries like Estonia or Lithuania
and the Baltics have been acutely aware
of the aggression potential of Vladimir Putin's regime,
and they have been warning their Western peers.
- [Narrator] Analysts say they've seen
Poland's defense budget sustain growth
over the last eight years,
following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Prior to the latest invasion of Ukraine,
Warsaw began negotiations to buy 250 Abrams tanks
and other military vehicles.
In the wake of the war,
Poland signed a $4.75 billion deal
and wants to accelerate the delivery of the weapons.
- They have big advantages
over the aging Soviet-built tanks
that Poland already operates.
The most important being
is that they're less vulnerable.
- [Narrator] The Abrams M1A2 SEPV3
is a modernized version of the Abrams main battle tank.
It's fitted with armor in its hull and turret,
designed to protect against threats from explosives.
The tank can be hinged with reactive armor
and slat armor
and it can be fitted with a signal jammer
to counter radio-activated IEDs.
- You've seen huge tank losses by Russian forces in Ukraine.
The Abrams is just a different design
and very simply, it's less vulnerable
to the kind of anti-tank weapons you've seen deployed
by Ukrainian forces.
- [Narrator] In addition to spending on new tanks,
Poland is sending some of its older T-72 models
to Ukraine, which has been requesting weapons assistance
since the war began in late February.
- Ultimately, countries can only donate
what would still enable them
to have the special capabilities
that they need for their own security.
- [Narrator] Analysts countries such as Poland
are using new spending proposals
to enhance their military capabilities
while sending older stock to Kyiv.
- If there wasn't that commensurate increase in spending,
then the donations would potentially create a gap.
- [Narrator] As some nations try to bolster defenses
and increase military budgets amid the Ukraine conflict,
the US weapons industry could benefit.
- The US is by far the biggest spender on weapons
in the world and also the biggest exporter.
So it's to be expected that a lot of the arms
being talked about by European countries
will come from there.
- [Narrator] But supply chain issues
have made it difficult
for some US companies to keep up with demand
and larger weapons could take years
to be delivered in part
because of lengthy contract negotiations.
- With this uptick in spending that we're seeing
in a few countries,
faster way of achieving more sort
of lethal capability is through weapons
and enhancements and upgrades
to existing platforms.