Asia’s defense boom is rewiring the global arms supply chain

(Credit: Chris Jung—NurPhoto via Getty Images)

For decades, arms sales went in one direction: the U.S. and Western Europe designed and supplied the world’s most advanced weapons, and Asian countries bought them.

But that flow is quickly reversing as Asia, once an arms importer, is now emerging as a hardware manufacturer and arms exporter, driving the global defense industry in a more multipolar world.