Thanks to the protracted war in Ukraine, U.S. arms sales in Europe are skyrocketing.

European Union countries have pledged to increase their arsenals by about $230 billion, with Germany alone planning to modernize its armed forces to the tune of $100 billion this year. And the United States military industry, which produces and exports more weapons than any other country, selling more than 39 percent of the estimated $210 billion in annual global arms sales from 2017 to 2021, has benefited the most.

In many European countries, more than half of recent military spending has come from U.S. arms manufacturers, with Norway allocating 83% to U.S. purchases, Britain 77%, Italy 72%, and the Netherlands 95% to U.S.-made weapons from 2017 to 2021.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), by 2021, Europe's total arms imports jumped 19 percent over that time period compared to the previous five years. And that was before Europe's recent arms-buying boom.

When the Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, defense spending plummeted in many European countries, he said. But that quickly changed.

According to William Hartung, a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Government, since President Biden took office, European countries have accounted for about $33 billion in arms offers, as the initial phase of arms negotiations is called.

Thanks to Putin, Europe is now considered a hot spot for American arms dealers.

According to Bond, one reason so many countries are turning to American arms manufacturers is that the U.S. defense industry is so big that countries don't have to wait for advanced weapons to be developed. Another reason is that Eastern and Central European countries want to keep the U.S. on their side and show that they attach importance to the transatlantic alliance, including NATO.

By far the most popular high-end item from the U.S. in Europe is the American F-35 combat aircraft, with Finland placing an order for 54 of them in 2020 and Poland ordering 32. Another 71 aircraft have been ordered by Norway. The Netherlands, Britain and even neutral Switzerland ordered three dozen fighter jets worth more than $6 billion in September.

According to Hartung, such big-money sales cause a lot of tension for European weapons manufacturers, because U.S.-built F-35s often sell better than European-made fighters in Europe.