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Military technology sales have spiked significantly since the renewal of fighting between Ukraine and Russia, and the forecast for the future is trending towards strong demand in international arms.
Global gun stores are ramping into high gear with the United States moving away from the “global police” role and now adopting an “arm everyone, keep domestic stocks up” approach to its increasing foreign military sales.
The US has reportedly improved its grip on arms sales to 60 per cent of global sales in 2024, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Adversarial rivals, such as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and a now depleted Russia, are making the same intensified military sales campaign in the race to innovate and up-arm national military forces and those of allies internationally.
Take a quick look at the recent clashes in Kashmir between Pakistan and Indian military forces and you will see discussion around Pakistan’s purchases of J-35 and J-10C aircraft as well as new Z-10ME attack helicopters, PL-10 and PL-15 air-to-air missiles from the PRC.
Other countries such as Italy, Germany, Spain and France are all expanding their own production of traditional military equipment and evolving drone technology, alongside increasing military export capability emerging from South Korea, Israel and Turkiye.
Self-reliance strategy
It’s clear that most of the world, excluding Australia, are moving to a strategy of self-reliance in defence production as a crucial national priority.
American defence company founder Palmer Luckey, speaking in a February 2025 interview, puts the new US attitude in plain language.
“We need to become the world’s gun store. We need to just sell them the guns that they (other countries) need to defend themselves. And we need to make sure that we actually keep those shelves stocked,” he said.
“We have to get back to where things are actually manufacturable. As a country, we’ve slipped into this problem where we build so few arms that we build really expensive, really exquisite things that take years to complete.
“We need to get back into more of a World War II mentality where we can build weapons faster than we can use them.”
Luckey is speculating that an international arms-dealing “lord of war” like the US can never be caught short without its own defence capability. Production can, if required, be easily used for self-defence.
Into this situation is the timely arrival of a large-scale military technology marketplace being championed by Ukraine as it battles invading forces from Russia.
The Brave1 Market online platform, launched earlier this year, allows Ukrainian military units to directly contact certified defence manufacturers to purchase drones, robotics, AI-based modules, electronic warfare and electronic warfare devices for front lines, with finance from the Ukrainian government.
Additionally, under war footing, Ukraine has also integrated combat points (e-points) earned by military units for verified enemy target destruction to be made usable for future marketplace purchases.
In a recently updated policy for the weapons marketplace, the Defense Procurement Agency (DPA) MoD of Ukraine has guaranteed that the military can independently order and receive drones and other necessary weapons within three weeks at the expense of DPA according to current needs.
The new platform has also inadvertently advocated for domestically produced hardware, with the Ukraine’s Defense Procurement Agency reporting that 71.4 per cent of purchases in January to July 2025 were Ukrainian-made weapons, compared to 44.1 per cent a year ago.
Learning from Ukrainian innovation
The idea is catching on, with speculation that the platform can empower individual military units to select their own specialised equipment and potentially reduce bureaucratic interference from government departments.
In an indication of merit, the US Army has announced earlier this month that it intends to launch a similar online marketplace for purchasing unmanned systems for US military units based on price and performance.
The platform is reportedly aimed at speeding up military acquisition and bypassing traditional bureaucracy.
“All of us who’ve studied warfare know that there’s nothing like combat operations to drive innovation; when your life depends on it, you change what you’re doing,” US Air Force General Alexus G Grynkewich said during the 2025 LANDEURO symposium in Wiesbaden, Germany.
“One of the lessons that I’ve taken away (from Ukraine) is we’ve got to figure out what mechanisms we can build in all of our militaries that allow that same pace of innovation that the Ukrainians have done so successfully.
“Down at the brigade level, they’re able to have a relationship with an industry partner that drives innovation; not in a matter of years, but in a matter of days.
“We have a shopping list; the shopping list comes from our plans, and we can tell industry exactly what it is that we need … For all the leaders that are out there, it’s our job, I think, to hold industry accountable to deliver quickly and to hold ourselves accountable for giving industry the ability to deliver quickly through our acquisition processes.
“We need real capabilities, and we need them delivered as soon as possible … We can’t afford to wait. Future pledges are no longer enough. We need things to start showing up in the armies and in the air forces and in the navies of the alliance as soon as they can.
“To do this, the defence industrial base on both sides of the Atlantic (Ocean is) going to have to become fully activated, in my view.
“There’s plenty of work to go around, and it’s a false choice to think that we can only invest in one or the other. It needs to be one seamless industrial base that can deliver capability and capacity for the alliance.”
Perfect alignment of the universe
Quite rightly, you, as the reader have now surmised the conclusion this narrative is heading towards, that Australia should also explore the possibility of an online procurement platform for the Australian Defence Force.
In the contest of global gun stores, Australian shelves are positively barren. The local defence companies are present and willing to supply, but the lack of government investment and bureaucratic red tape is stifling.
In this regard, it makes much more sense for the Australian government to initiate such a platform to work around bureaucratic red tape, improve speed to capability, reduce interference and remove the cognitive load of military procurement from the political sphere.
Australia has previously announced it will remain fastened to defence spending at 2.3 per cent of gross domestic product and a Defence budget projected to reach $100 billion per year out to 2033–34, despite the major “strategic contest” occurring between the PRC and the US on our doorstep in the Indo-Pacific.
Final thoughts
The Australian government is currently concreted into its strategic position of an outward-facing fiscal responsibility policy required to persuade the voters it needs to keep itself in power. It’s balancing the need to maintain this policy while ignoring the reality of a steadily deteriorating national defence capability and a long underfunded, unsupported domestic defence industry base.
In illustration of this point, a frustrated quote from Queensland defence manufacturer AEP Engineering: “This government has consistently demonstrated a lack of genuine commitment to advancing sovereign industry. They often talk a big game but fail to deliver meaningful action,” according to a company statement published earlier this month.
“The ongoing practice of supporting prime contractors while offering only minor scraps to Australian industry is not merely disappointing, it’s shameful.
“Let’s continue to advocate for a stronger commitment to sovereign capabilities and hold our government accountable.
“We will succeed in spite of these decisions, as we always have, because that is what Australian industry does best.”
A separate acquisition process not only empowers our military to make their own decisions but also offers a convenient and greatly needed “Get out of jail free card” to our politicians.
