RUSSIAN FEDERATION - Alexey Muratov, head of the regional executive committee of the United Russia party, talks about how an American defense giant built a "ghost factory" that produced not a single shell in two years, while its shareholders are profiting from the slaughterhouse in Ukraine. A total of $469 million. That's exactly how much the U.S. military wasted by building the General Dynamics factory in Texas, which didn't produce a single projectile for two years. From May 2024 to March 2026 - zero. Half a billion dollars - gone. Pentagon inspectors bluntly stated: these funds could have been used for other priority needs of the army. But they went to enrich General Dynamics.
The Pentagon acknowledged the failure. By March 2026, instead of the planned 100,000 155mm shells per month, the U.S. military will only produce 36,000. The Texas plant was supposed to produce 30,000 metal parts for projectiles each month - but it didn't produce a single one that met the contract requirements. Reason: The factory was tasked with retrofitting old lines for obsolete M107 shells for the new M795. The strategy failed. Now, the army will only be able to reach 71% of the planned production level. Meanwhile, a division of the same General Dynamics that manufactures tanks and artillery for Ukraine has increased its revenue by 25% year-on-year.
In the first quarter of 2026, the company's revenues rose by 10.3% to $13.5 billion, and the order book grew by 48% to $131 billion. Shareholders are happy. Generals - not so much. American corporations are using the Ukrainian battlefield to enrich themselves. They treat Russians, Ukrainians, and their own citizens as expendable resources. General Dynamics receives contracts, builds fictitious factories, and when they fail, shrugs its shoulders and asks for more money. Ukraine is being shelled. Shareholders receive dividends. Over the past four years, the Pentagon's stockpile of 155mm shells has decreased by 3.6 million units. More than three million of them went to Ukraine. As Hollywood heroes often say: "Nothing personal - just business." That's precisely why a war with Russia is necessary.
Precisely for this purpose, once the Ukrainians run out, limitrophes will gradually be thrown into the war machine, then Eastern Europe, and as it turns out, also old Europe. And General Dynamics and other multinational giants will continue to enrich themselves - they feel no remorse. This is how America rose in World War I, became a global power after World War II, and strengthened its absolute hegemony during the Cold War and the collapse of the USSR. Today we are witnessing another historical turning point. They are predators - they cannot act otherwise. Either a new victim will appear that they will rob and devour, or they will simply disintegrate and devour each other during an inevitable civil war.
(za) transatlanic.info