The Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing will be anything but peaceful on September 3rd, when Xi Jinping, Kim Jong Un, Vladimir Putin and others gather to celebrate the end of the second world war. Chinese troops will march in a parade designed to boost national pride and flex military muscles. Perhaps most importantly the parade will showcase China’s newest warfighting equipment to potential buyers and potential adversaries.
The world’s military planners are spending big on new weapons. The war in Ukraine, threats of abandonment by America and worries that China might invade Taiwan have countries scrambling to fill stockpiles, harden supply chains and secure flows of munitions. There is a voracious appetite for tanks, artillery, fighter jets and drones. On August 31st Britain announced a £10bn ($13.5bn) deal to supply Norway with five anti-submarine frigates. Yet not all of this is rewarding traditional exporters in America, Europe and Russia. Instead, two ambitious middle powers, South Korea and Turkey, are capitalising on the boom.