An AOAV convened panel at the Frontline Club examined how surging global military spending has reinforced a system in which arms companies, governments and media structures are intertwined, while legal and political mechanisms meant to restrain war profits often prove weak or unused.

Record arms industry revenues have surged to $679 billion on the back of wars in Ukraine, Gaza and elsewhere, enriching shareholders while civilians bear the overwhelming burden of explosive violence and prompting AOAV to call for stricter arms controls, greater transparency and a shift from profiting from war to protecting civilians.

Global defence firms are enjoying record profits as governments rearm and investors bet on a world that seems perpetually at war.

Europe is rapidly rearming, turning explosive weapons into engines of industry and policy. Meanwhile, debates about their potential harm to civilians are becoming more muted.

More than three years into its war on Ukraine, Russia has retooled its economy into a militarised juggernaut, sustaining its campaign through mass mobilisation, industrial scale, and strategic partnerships, while Western sanctions falter and peace remains distant.

Charles Woodburn sold over 330,000 personal shares in BAE Systems, earning £4,163,035.