The Biden administration has already said Stinger and Javelin manufacturing will be ramped up in order to restock US resources. The production line for the 1970’s era Stinger, which costs about $120,000 apiece (£91,300), recently reopened to accommodate another order. Additional staff may even be needed to speed up production and alternatives for obsolete parts found, CNN reported.

The UK, meanwhile, is expected to buy more £2,000-apiece NLAWs after depleting its own stock, although making missiles can be a slow process.

In the longer term, where spending is allocated – and which companies will benefit in the bid to keep the Ukrainian army supplied – is harder to predict, says Peter McNally of research firm Third Bridge. 

“There’s definitely going to be a capital reallocation that is going to happen, but it’s still early days to figure out exactly where the spending is going to be,” he explains, because of slow budgets and the duration of defence industry programmes.

“The Russian army hasn’t exactly wowed the world with its capabilities. There’s going to have to be an assessment of that before spending just gets thrown about,” McNally adds.

Insiders at some of the UK’s armourers say it takes about 10 years to commission, design and deliver a new missile programme, and restarting an old one can take two years, depending on the complexity of the weaponry. Anti-aircraft weaponry is harder to make because of the speed of the target and costs far more: the Thales-made Starstreak missile, which can travel at Mach 3, or 3,700km per hour, is said to cost about five times more than the NLAW.

Battlefield use in Ukraine is likely to have attracted more potential buyers to the NLAW weapon, which has played a decisive role in crippling the Russian invasion, earning them a cult status and a huge popularity among Ukrainian soldiers.