--- title: These Countries are Stacking Their Militaries in 2025 description: "Around 5am local time on the 24th of February 2022, the morning silence on the frontier between Ukraine and Russia was shattered by the roar of mechanised infantry vehicles, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers.\n\nOnly minutes before, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin delivered an address in which he declared that Russians in Ukraine were facing \"humiliation and genocide\", and denounced what he described as a NATO military buildup in the country. In doing so, he announced the beginning of a 'special military operation' — in short, declaring open war on Ukraine.\n\nAnd with that, Putin's forces surged across the border. The ground invasion had begun.\n\nWhat followed was an intense and brutal conflict resulting in extreme devastation for Ukraine, and one of the most cataclysmic geopolitical events of the 21st century. Amidst the many lessons derived from the ongoing war, was that the reality of a Russian military invasion was absolutely no trifling matter. With this fact laid bare, much of the world sat up and paid keen attention.\n\nAnd some leapt into action.\n\n## Poland's Military Supercharge\n\nPoland is a country whose economy is flying high.\n\nIts GDP leapt from 524 billion US dollars in 2017 to more than 820 billion by 2024. Poland's rapid growth has been described as an economic miracle, and several projections suggest that the economy will surpass that of the UK by the year 2030. But the transformation is even more striking in Poland's military expenditure.\n\nIn 2014, Polish spending on defence was less than 10 billion dollars, and a paltry 1.88% of its then-GDP of 539 billion. On the eve of the Russian invasion in 2022, it had a higher — but still unexceptional — budget of around 15 billion dollars, roughly the same as Spain and still only around 2% of GDP.\n\nOnce Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, however, Poland's defence spending went haywire.\n\nBy 2024, its budget had soared all the way up to an eye watering 41.5 billion dollars, and no less than 4.12% of GDP. This percentage represented the highest of all NATO countries, higher than that of the US (at 3.3%), significantly higher than the NATO average of 2.7%, and more than twice the alliance's guideline of 2%.\n\nBut Warsaw was nowhere near done.\n\nAround 150 military contracts were prepared in 2024, securing air-launched cruise missiles, Apache attack helicopters, dynamic support helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, air defence systems, a fresh batch of K2 tanks and rounds, satellite terminals, and new communications infrastructure. Poland ditched its Soviet-era BDRM amphibious scout cars and kickstarted the so-called Kleszcz programme, domestically producing almost 300 advanced armoured scout cars. Its manpower surged to 200,000 active soldiers, alongside an additional 16,000 allied soldiers stationed on Polish territory. The reservist Territorial Defence Force was also expanded — to 35,000 — and it has further bulwarked its artillery, infantry, and navy.\n\nAs if Poland's military buildup hadn't already gone anabolic, it picked up pace even further still.\n\nIn May 2024, the Defence Ministry announced plans for construction of the \"East Shield\", a 2.5 billion dollar sheath along its borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and something which would make the Maginot Line look like a child's playpen. The Ministry also declared that it intends to raise its number of active servicemen further to 300,000 across all rungs of its armed forces. And before the end of the year, yet another dramatic budget increase was unveiled. At a record 49 billion dollars or 4.7% of GDP, Poland's 2025 defence budget stands as one of the highest in NATO, and more than twice its budget in 2022. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared that the country plans to raise its spending in the coming years to 5% of GDP, which — as pointed out by Reuters — would result in a defence budget greater than all its post-communist central European and Baltic neighbours combined.\n\nEven so, Reuters had perhaps jumped the gun. Because Poland's frenzied armouring wouldn't quite be an isolated event.\n\n## Lithuania Dials Up its Defence\n\nNow, let's say you are a resident of one of the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia. Quite understandably, you'd be watching the War in Ukraine unfold with a high degree of alarm.\n\nEach of the three countries shares a land border with Russia, and were all occupied by the Soviet Union during World War II, going on to spend almost fifty years under the Kremlin's bootheel. Moreover, Estonia and Latvia have large ethnic-Russian populations — estimated at between 20 and 30% of the population — and this, many will recall, was part of the pretext used by Putin to invade Ukraine. Unlike Poland, no Baltic country has a buffer state separating them from Russia, none of them has its huge, homogenous population to provide safety in numbers, and all three are pinned against the Baltic sea — without an ally like Germany at their heel.\n\nPossibly in light of this, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have long taken their security seriously. Each one was among the few NATO countries to have a defence budget higher than 2% GDP before the Russian invasion, and all three have mandatory military conscription for males, with Latvia being the latest to reinstate the practice in 2023.\n\nBut while the Baltic trio have each bolstered their defences in recent years, Lithuania has since sauntered ahead — and is taking absolutely no chances with its security whatsoever.\n\nAs the first country to officially break from the Soviet Union in 1991, Lithuania never treated the threat of reoccupation with any kind of deference. Flanked by both the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus, it lies in a precarious defensive military position: its only land connections with NATO allies are Latvia to the north — itself in a similar strategic position — and Poland through a tiny and vulnerable stretch of land known as the Suwalki gap.\n\nSo while some countries hesitated when the Donbass War began in 2014, Lithuania did not. Military conscription for males was reinstated within a year, having previously been put to an end in 2008. An Enhanced Forward Presence base of 3,700 NATO soldiers was established in 2017 in the town of Rukla. And in the years between 2014 and 2022, Lithuania's defense budget went stratospheric: mushrooming four times its initial size of 430 million dollars to more than 1.7 billion, and from less than one percent of its GDP to 2.5. In 2024, military enlistment was expanded to 17-year-olds, and plans to blitz the defence budget further followed soon after.\n\nIn January 2025, the Lithuanian Defence Ministry announced that defence spending between 2026 and 2030 would now rise to between 5 and 6% of total GDP per year. This would be proportionally double its defence spending of 3% in 2024 alone, and would see Lithuania leapfrog Poland as proportionally the biggest single spender on defence in NATO. In doing so, Lithuania also became the first member of the alliance to meet US President Donald Trump's new defence target of 5%, something he announced as a measure to counter the Russian threat and only two weeks before Lithuania did that.\n\nThe source of this spending is quite clear: Lithuania has been stacking itself to the gills with military hardware. In only the month before the Defence budget announcement, the Ministry of Defence announced signed contracts for Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and UAVs from the US, Carl Gustaf 84mm antitank rifles from Sweden, C-27J Spartan aircraft maintenance from Italy, and a massive deal for no less than 44 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany. All this in addition to the domestic development of next-generation night vision equipment and Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicles by Lithuanian companies.\n\nPoland and Lithuania certainly lead the charge amongst European nations for defence preparation. But another massive spender emerged in a different geopolitical theatre entirely, albeit for quite different — if related — reasons.\n\n## A Biting Reality Strikes Armenia\n\nFar from the battlefields of Ukraine, a bitter consequence of the Russian invasion took form for the small South Caucasus nation of Armenia.\n\nFor years, Armenia has been locked in conflict with Azerbaijan over the tiny mountain region of Nagorno-Karabakh, something which led to war in the early 1990s. As the war dug in, Armenia — fearing invasion by Turkey — joined the newly-established Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia's answer to NATO. This seemed to pay off in 1993, when Turkish troops massed on Armenia's western border but were deterred by mobilised Russian forces on the other side. The Armenians were thus able to overcome a disorganised and chaotic Azerbaijani army, and in the years after, it was in Russia's hands that the Armenians unwisely — if understandably — entrusted their fate.\n\nThe Armenians had severely miscalculated. Russian support would — as it turned out — would only extend as far as a direct assault on Armenia proper, not the unrecognised and imperilled Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan realised this, and spent years modernising its forces, laying the ground for a fresh assault on the region.\n\nThe resulting attack in 2020 saw 75% of lost territory recovered by Azerbaijan. Russia did nothing to support its ally, and all remaining prospects of backing from Moscow vanished following the invasion of Ukraine. In late 2023, the end for Nagorno-Karabakh came on swift and terrible wings, and resulted in the flight of the entire Armenian population from the region. But Armenia's troubles didn't end there. What came next was a sustained period of skirmishes along the border, which saw Azeri troops occupy pockets of territory in Armenia itself. Once again, Russia looked away: making it painfully clear that Yerevan could not count on Kremlin support even in the event of an attack on its sovereign territory. It also became clear that Russian weapons were effectively useless in countering what was, by now, a tangible threat to Armenia's very existence.\n\nBeginning in 2022, Yerevan hiked its military budget by a massive 83%: rising from 795 million US dollars to more than 1.3 billion the following year. By 2024, after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh, military spending increased further, as Armenia announced its budget would rise to 1.7 billion US. The same year, Yerevan revealed a string of new strategic partnerships, largely abandoning Russian support and announcing that its primary supplier of military hardware would be India. The two countries signed an arms contract worth 600 million dollars in June 2024, reportedly for the provision of Pinaka multiple-launch rocket systems, Akash medium-range missiles, ATAGS howitzers, and anti-tank and anti-drone equipment.\n\nBut Armenia's military expansion didn't stop there. In July, Iran International reported that Yerevan had signed a secret deal with Tehran worth 500 million dollars, although this was denied by the Armenian MFA. The deal allegedly secured Iranian-made Shahed drones, as well as further air defence missile systems.\n\nArmenia also expanded active procurement from France, and by January 2025, it had signed a partnership agreement with the US for mostly non-lethal training and logistical support. By 2025, Armenia's defence budget shot up to 6% of GDP — proportionally more than Azerbaijan but still significantly less in absolute terms. In doing so, Armenia seemed to sacrifice part of its economy, downgrading projected growth from 5.6% to 5.1%, largely due to increased government spending.\n\nAmid the flurry of budget increases and strategic partnerships, Armenia also inferred veiled plans for other military reforms. It is believed that these are to target corruption and nepotism in army ranks, and to eliminate Soviet-era military doctrines which led to ruin in Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan aims to improve both the professionalism of its military leadership and the efficiency of its conscription system, possibly by reducing mandatory service from two years to ensure more efficient terms of service and maximising conscript morale.\n\nArmenia may not have the means of the European mega-economies to bulwark its security, but its precarious position has seen its defence spending rise to proportionally one of the highest in the world.\n\n## The European Military Megaproject\n\nNow, while the geopolitical realities of all three countries may differ, there is one thing that Armenia, Lithuania, and Poland share. Their increased military fervour can all be traced back to the morning of the 24th of February 2022, and the sound of military boots crossing into Ukraine.\n\nWhen Vladimir Putin began his special military operation, he set in motion a chain of events which shattered any lingering apathy of nations near and far towards self-armament. For Poland, this meant setting into motion a military furore not seen for a hundred years. For Lithuania and Armenia, it meant supercharging existing military preparation to unprecedented levels. But these aside, a huge proportion of European NATO members also sprang into action, which resulted in new military megaprojects emerging all over the continent.\n\nIn 2021, only six of the of the thirty-two NATO allies met the minimal Defence budget spend of 2%. By 2024, this had risen all the way up to twenty-three. Czechia, Finland and Denmark all dragged their defence spending forward by a full percent. France raised its budget up to 55 billion dollars, and announced plans for the purchase of next-generation aircraft carriers and a new naval frigate. Even Spain, the alliance's laggard, raised its defence spending from a measly 1% to 1.3, and promised to meet the 2% threshold in the wake of criticism from Trump. But perhaps the most significant surge came by way of none other than Germany.\n\nBefore 2022, Germany's foreign policy had been described as one of pacifism, and its military — the Bundeswehr — operated with a budget of 1.45% of GDP. But in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany turned face, and raised its military budget beyond 2% GDP.\n\nNow that may not sound like much, but this represents a huge reversal for Germany, whose military has been described by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius as in a state of \"neglect\". 2% of GDP may be a relatively ordinary figure: but Germany is not an ordinary country.\n\nEven at 1.57% in 2023, Germany's defence budget was 68 billion dollars, the second-highest in NATO (behind the US), and ahead of France, Italy and the UK. 2% of Germany's GDP would offer a gargantuan budget of more than 80 billion, which would place it firmly into the top 5 defence spenders in the world. For comparison, the same figure would represent around 60% of the Russian defence budget of 130 billion for 2025, which is projected to eat up 6.3% of Russia's GDP and a mindnumbing 32% of its total state expenditure for 2025.\n\nWith Germany and Poland at its helm, Europe — the sleeping giant of military affairs — may be waking from its slumber. And with countries like Lithuania, Estonia and others in tow, it might just be a force to reckon with.\n\n## Key Takeaways\n\n- Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered significant military buildups in neighboring countries.\n- Poland's defense spending surged to 4.7% of GDP by 2025, leading NATO with extensive military contracts.\n- Lithuania increased its defense budget to 5-6% of GDP, aiming to be NATO's top spender proportionally.\n- Armenia's defense spending rose to 6% of GDP due to conflicts with Azerbaijan and reduced Russian support.\n- Germany's defense budget exceeded 2% of GDP, marking a shift from its previous pacifist stance.\n\n## Frequently Asked Questions\n\n### What triggered the significant increase in military spending in Poland?\n\nThe Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggered a significant increase in military spending in Poland.\n\n### How much did Poland's defense budget increase by 2024?\n\nBy 2024, Poland's defense budget had soared to 41.5 billion dollars, which was 4.12% of its GDP.\n\n### What major military contracts did Poland prepare in 2024?\n\nIn 2024, Poland prepared around 150 military contracts securing air-launched cruise missiles, Apache attack helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, air defense systems, K2 tanks, satellite terminals, and new communications infrastructure.\n\n### What is the 'East Shield' project in Poland?\n\nThe 'East Shield' is a 2.5 billion dollar defense project along Poland's borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, announced in May 2024.\n\n### How has Lithuania's defense budget changed since 2014?\n\nLithuania's defense budget increased from 430 million dollars in 2014 to over 1.7 billion dollars by 2022, and it plans to increase it to between 5 and 6% of GDP from 2026 to 2030.\n\n### What military hardware did Lithuania acquire in early 2025?\n\nIn early 2025, Lithuania acquired Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and UAVs from the US, Carl Gustaf 84mm antitank rifles from Sweden, C-27J Spartan aircraft maintenance from Italy, and 44 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany.\n\n### What prompted Armenia to increase its military spending?\n\nArmenia increased its military spending due to the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan and the realization that Russia would not support Armenia in future conflicts.\n\n### How much did Armenia's defense budget increase by 2025?\n\nBy 2025, Armenia's defense budget increased to 6% of its GDP.\n\n### What strategic partnerships did Armenia form in 2024?\n\nIn 2024, Armenia formed strategic partnerships with India, signing a 600 million dollar arms contract, and reportedly with Iran for 500 million dollars, although the latter was denied by the Armenian MFA.\n\n### How did the Russian invasion of Ukraine affect NATO countries' defense spending?\n\nThe Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a significant increase in defense spending among NATO countries, with 23 out of 32 NATO allies meeting the 2% GDP defense spending threshold by 2024.\n\n## Sources\n\n- [Original MegaProjects video: These Countries are Stacking Their Militaries in 2025.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJctWbPX4iU)\n- [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Russian_drone_Gerbera%2C_downed_in_Ukraine_%282025-02-15%29.webp) by State Emergency Service of Ukraine / openverse, by.\n\n## Related Coverage" url: https://megaprojects.pub/article/countries-stacking-militaries-2025.md canonical: https://megaprojects.pub/article/countries-stacking-militaries-2025 datePublished: 2026-07-02 dateModified: 2026-07-02 author: - name: Simon Whistler url: https://megaprojects.pub/author/simon-whistler publisher: MegaProjects image: "https://media.megaprojects.pub/cdn-cgi/image/width=600,height=338,fit=cover,quality=80,format=auto/articles/XJctWbPX4iU/hero.jpg" type: NewsArticle contentHash: 4002309e92b2ec506c6139089358cde139d336fd64b3432547d31c96ee737d7d tokens: 4591 summaryUrl: https://megaprojects.pub/article/countries-stacking-militaries-2025.md.summary.md --- Around 5am local time on the 24th of February 2022, the morning silence on the frontier between Ukraine and Russia was shattered by the roar of mechanised infantry vehicles, tanks, and armoured personnel carriers. Only minutes before, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin delivered an address in which he declared that Russians in Ukraine were facing "humiliation and genocide", and denounced what he described as a NATO military buildup in the country. In doing so, he announced the beginning of a 'special military operation' — in short, declaring open war on Ukraine. And with that, Putin's forces surged across the border. The ground invasion had begun. What followed was an intense and brutal conflict resulting in extreme devastation for Ukraine, and one of the most cataclysmic geopolitical events of the 21st century. Amidst the many lessons derived from the ongoing war, was that the reality of a Russian military invasion was absolutely no trifling matter. With this fact laid bare, much of the world sat up and paid keen attention. And some leapt into action. ## Poland's Military Supercharge Poland is a country whose economy is flying high. Its GDP leapt from 524 billion US dollars in 2017 to more than 820 billion by 2024. Poland's rapid growth has been described as an economic miracle, and several projections suggest that the economy will surpass that of the UK by the year 2030. But the transformation is even more striking in Poland's military expenditure. In 2014, Polish spending on defence was less than 10 billion dollars, and a paltry 1.88% of its then-GDP of 539 billion. On the eve of the Russian invasion in 2022, it had a higher — but still unexceptional — budget of around 15 billion dollars, roughly the same as Spain and still only around 2% of GDP. Once Russian troops crossed into Ukraine, however, Poland's defence spending went haywire. By 2024, its budget had soared all the way up to an eye watering 41.5 billion dollars, and no less than 4.12% of GDP. This percentage represented the highest of all NATO countries, higher than that of the US (at 3.3%), significantly higher than the NATO average of 2.7%, and more than twice the alliance's guideline of 2%. But Warsaw was nowhere near done. Around 150 military contracts were prepared in 2024, securing air-launched cruise missiles, Apache attack helicopters, dynamic support helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, air defence systems, a fresh batch of K2 tanks and rounds, satellite terminals, and new communications infrastructure. Poland ditched its Soviet-era BDRM amphibious scout cars and kickstarted the so-called Kleszcz programme, domestically producing almost 300 advanced armoured scout cars. Its manpower surged to 200,000 active soldiers, alongside an additional 16,000 allied soldiers stationed on Polish territory. The reservist Territorial Defence Force was also expanded — to 35,000 — and it has further bulwarked its artillery, infantry, and navy. As if Poland's military buildup hadn't already gone anabolic, it picked up pace even further still. In May 2024, the Defence Ministry announced plans for construction of the "East Shield", a 2.5 billion dollar sheath along its borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, and something which would make the Maginot Line look like a child's playpen. The Ministry also declared that it intends to raise its number of active servicemen further to 300,000 across all rungs of its armed forces. And before the end of the year, yet another dramatic budget increase was unveiled. At a record 49 billion dollars or 4.7% of GDP, Poland's 2025 defence budget stands as one of the highest in NATO, and more than twice its budget in 2022. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski declared that the country plans to raise its spending in the coming years to 5% of GDP, which — as pointed out by Reuters — would result in a defence budget greater than all its post-communist central European and Baltic neighbours combined. Even so, Reuters had perhaps jumped the gun. Because Poland's frenzied armouring wouldn't quite be an isolated event. ## Lithuania Dials Up its Defence Now, let's say you are a resident of one of the Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, or Estonia. Quite understandably, you'd be watching the War in Ukraine unfold with a high degree of alarm. Each of the three countries shares a land border with Russia, and were all occupied by the Soviet Union during World War II, going on to spend almost fifty years under the Kremlin's bootheel. Moreover, Estonia and Latvia have large ethnic-Russian populations — estimated at between 20 and 30% of the population — and this, many will recall, was part of the pretext used by Putin to invade Ukraine. Unlike Poland, no Baltic country has a buffer state separating them from Russia, none of them has its huge, homogenous population to provide safety in numbers, and all three are pinned against the Baltic sea — without an ally like Germany at their heel. Possibly in light of this, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania have long taken their security seriously. Each one was among the few NATO countries to have a defence budget higher than 2% GDP before the Russian invasion, and all three have mandatory military conscription for males, with Latvia being the latest to reinstate the practice in 2023. But while the Baltic trio have each bolstered their defences in recent years, Lithuania has since sauntered ahead — and is taking absolutely no chances with its security whatsoever. As the first country to officially break from the Soviet Union in 1991, Lithuania never treated the threat of reoccupation with any kind of deference. Flanked by both the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus, it lies in a precarious defensive military position: its only land connections with NATO allies are Latvia to the north — itself in a similar strategic position — and Poland through a tiny and vulnerable stretch of land known as the Suwalki gap. So while some countries hesitated when the Donbass War began in 2014, Lithuania did not. Military conscription for males was reinstated within a year, having previously been put to an end in 2008. An Enhanced Forward Presence base of 3,700 NATO soldiers was established in 2017 in the town of Rukla. And in the years between 2014 and 2022, Lithuania's defense budget went stratospheric: mushrooming four times its initial size of 430 million dollars to more than 1.7 billion, and from less than one percent of its GDP to 2.5. In 2024, military enlistment was expanded to 17-year-olds, and plans to blitz the defence budget further followed soon after. In January 2025, the Lithuanian Defence Ministry announced that defence spending between 2026 and 2030 would now rise to between 5 and 6% of total GDP per year. This would be proportionally double its defence spending of 3% in 2024 alone, and would see Lithuania leapfrog Poland as proportionally the biggest single spender on defence in NATO. In doing so, Lithuania also became the first member of the alliance to meet US President Donald Trump's new defence target of 5%, something he announced as a measure to counter the Russian threat and only two weeks before Lithuania did that. The source of this spending is quite clear: Lithuania has been stacking itself to the gills with military hardware. In only the month before the Defence budget announcement, the Ministry of Defence announced signed contracts for Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and UAVs from the US, Carl Gustaf 84mm antitank rifles from Sweden, C-27J Spartan aircraft maintenance from Italy, and a massive deal for no less than 44 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany. All this in addition to the domestic development of next-generation night vision equipment and Vilkas Infantry Fighting Vehicles by Lithuanian companies. Poland and Lithuania certainly lead the charge amongst European nations for defence preparation. But another massive spender emerged in a different geopolitical theatre entirely, albeit for quite different — if related — reasons. ## A Biting Reality Strikes Armenia Far from the battlefields of Ukraine, a bitter consequence of the Russian invasion took form for the small South Caucasus nation of Armenia. For years, Armenia has been locked in conflict with Azerbaijan over the tiny mountain region of Nagorno-Karabakh, something which led to war in the early 1990s. As the war dug in, Armenia — fearing invasion by Turkey — joined the newly-established Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia's answer to NATO. This seemed to pay off in 1993, when Turkish troops massed on Armenia's western border but were deterred by mobilised Russian forces on the other side. The Armenians were thus able to overcome a disorganised and chaotic Azerbaijani army, and in the years after, it was in Russia's hands that the Armenians unwisely — if understandably — entrusted their fate. The Armenians had severely miscalculated. Russian support would — as it turned out — would only extend as far as a direct assault on Armenia proper, not the unrecognised and imperilled Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan realised this, and spent years modernising its forces, laying the ground for a fresh assault on the region. The resulting attack in 2020 saw 75% of lost territory recovered by Azerbaijan. Russia did nothing to support its ally, and all remaining prospects of backing from Moscow vanished following the invasion of Ukraine. In late 2023, the end for Nagorno-Karabakh came on swift and terrible wings, and resulted in the flight of the entire Armenian population from the region. But Armenia's troubles didn't end there. What came next was a sustained period of skirmishes along the border, which saw Azeri troops occupy pockets of territory in Armenia itself. Once again, Russia looked away: making it painfully clear that Yerevan could not count on Kremlin support even in the event of an attack on its sovereign territory. It also became clear that Russian weapons were effectively useless in countering what was, by now, a tangible threat to Armenia's very existence. Beginning in 2022, Yerevan hiked its military budget by a massive 83%: rising from 795 million US dollars to more than 1.3 billion the following year. By 2024, after the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh, military spending increased further, as Armenia announced its budget would rise to 1.7 billion US. The same year, Yerevan revealed a string of new strategic partnerships, largely abandoning Russian support and announcing that its primary supplier of military hardware would be India. The two countries signed an arms contract worth 600 million dollars in June 2024, reportedly for the provision of Pinaka multiple-launch rocket systems, Akash medium-range missiles, ATAGS howitzers, and anti-tank and anti-drone equipment. But Armenia's military expansion didn't stop there. In July, Iran International reported that Yerevan had signed a secret deal with Tehran worth 500 million dollars, although this was denied by the Armenian MFA. The deal allegedly secured Iranian-made Shahed drones, as well as further air defence missile systems. Armenia also expanded active procurement from France, and by January 2025, it had signed a partnership agreement with the US for mostly non-lethal training and logistical support. By 2025, Armenia's defence budget shot up to 6% of GDP — proportionally more than Azerbaijan but still significantly less in absolute terms. In doing so, Armenia seemed to sacrifice part of its economy, downgrading projected growth from 5.6% to 5.1%, largely due to increased government spending. Amid the flurry of budget increases and strategic partnerships, Armenia also inferred veiled plans for other military reforms. It is believed that these are to target corruption and nepotism in army ranks, and to eliminate Soviet-era military doctrines which led to ruin in Nagorno-Karabakh. Yerevan aims to improve both the professionalism of its military leadership and the efficiency of its conscription system, possibly by reducing mandatory service from two years to ensure more efficient terms of service and maximising conscript morale. Armenia may not have the means of the European mega-economies to bulwark its security, but its precarious position has seen its defence spending rise to proportionally one of the highest in the world. ## The European Military Megaproject Now, while the geopolitical realities of all three countries may differ, there is one thing that Armenia, Lithuania, and Poland share. Their increased military fervour can all be traced back to the morning of the 24th of February 2022, and the sound of military boots crossing into Ukraine. When Vladimir Putin began his special military operation, he set in motion a chain of events which shattered any lingering apathy of nations near and far towards self-armament. For Poland, this meant setting into motion a military furore not seen for a hundred years. For Lithuania and Armenia, it meant supercharging existing military preparation to unprecedented levels. But these aside, a huge proportion of European NATO members also sprang into action, which resulted in new military megaprojects emerging all over the continent. In 2021, only six of the of the thirty-two NATO allies met the minimal Defence budget spend of 2%. By 2024, this had risen all the way up to twenty-three. Czechia, Finland and Denmark all dragged their defence spending forward by a full percent. France raised its budget up to 55 billion dollars, and announced plans for the purchase of next-generation aircraft carriers and a new naval frigate. Even Spain, the alliance's laggard, raised its defence spending from a measly 1% to 1.3, and promised to meet the 2% threshold in the wake of criticism from Trump. But perhaps the most significant surge came by way of none other than Germany. Before 2022, Germany's foreign policy had been described as one of pacifism, and its military — the Bundeswehr — operated with a budget of 1.45% of GDP. But in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany turned face, and raised its military budget beyond 2% GDP. Now that may not sound like much, but this represents a huge reversal for Germany, whose military has been described by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius as in a state of "neglect". 2% of GDP may be a relatively ordinary figure: but Germany is not an ordinary country. Even at 1.57% in 2023, Germany's defence budget was 68 billion dollars, the second-highest in NATO (behind the US), and ahead of France, Italy and the UK. 2% of Germany's GDP would offer a gargantuan budget of more than 80 billion, which would place it firmly into the top 5 defence spenders in the world. For comparison, the same figure would represent around 60% of the Russian defence budget of 130 billion for 2025, which is projected to eat up 6.3% of Russia's GDP and a mindnumbing 32% of its total state expenditure for 2025. With Germany and Poland at its helm, Europe — the sleeping giant of military affairs — may be waking from its slumber. And with countries like Lithuania, Estonia and others in tow, it might just be a force to reckon with. ## Key Takeaways - Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 triggered significant military buildups in neighboring countries. - Poland's defense spending surged to 4.7% of GDP by 2025, leading NATO with extensive military contracts. - Lithuania increased its defense budget to 5-6% of GDP, aiming to be NATO's top spender proportionally. - Armenia's defense spending rose to 6% of GDP due to conflicts with Azerbaijan and reduced Russian support. - Germany's defense budget exceeded 2% of GDP, marking a shift from its previous pacifist stance. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What triggered the significant increase in military spending in Poland? The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, triggered a significant increase in military spending in Poland. ### How much did Poland's defense budget increase by 2024? By 2024, Poland's defense budget had soared to 41.5 billion dollars, which was 4.12% of its GDP. ### What major military contracts did Poland prepare in 2024? In 2024, Poland prepared around 150 military contracts securing air-launched cruise missiles, Apache attack helicopters, F-16 fighter jets, air defense systems, K2 tanks, satellite terminals, and new communications infrastructure. ### What is the 'East Shield' project in Poland? The 'East Shield' is a 2.5 billion dollar defense project along Poland's borders with Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, announced in May 2024. ### How has Lithuania's defense budget changed since 2014? Lithuania's defense budget increased from 430 million dollars in 2014 to over 1.7 billion dollars by 2022, and it plans to increase it to between 5 and 6% of GDP from 2026 to 2030. ### What military hardware did Lithuania acquire in early 2025? In early 2025, Lithuania acquired Joint Light Tactical Vehicles and UAVs from the US, Carl Gustaf 84mm antitank rifles from Sweden, C-27J Spartan aircraft maintenance from Italy, and 44 Leopard 2 tanks from Germany. ### What prompted Armenia to increase its military spending? Armenia increased its military spending due to the loss of Nagorno-Karabakh to Azerbaijan and the realization that Russia would not support Armenia in future conflicts. ### How much did Armenia's defense budget increase by 2025? By 2025, Armenia's defense budget increased to 6% of its GDP. ### What strategic partnerships did Armenia form in 2024? In 2024, Armenia formed strategic partnerships with India, signing a 600 million dollar arms contract, and reportedly with Iran for 500 million dollars, although the latter was denied by the Armenian MFA. ### How did the Russian invasion of Ukraine affect NATO countries' defense spending? The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a significant increase in defense spending among NATO countries, with 23 out of 32 NATO allies meeting the 2% GDP defense spending threshold by 2024. ## Sources - [Original MegaProjects video: These Countries are Stacking Their Militaries in 2025.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJctWbPX4iU) - [Hero image source](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Russian_drone_Gerbera%2C_downed_in_Ukraine_%282025-02-15%29.webp) by State Emergency Service of Ukraine / openverse, by. ## Related Coverage