AntiWar.com & USAReally & Radio Free Europe & Reuters – 2018-12-11 00:06:34
US Dwarfs Rest of the World in Arms Production
Others vie for growth, but US still the unquestioned leader
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(December 9, 2018) — SIPRI [the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute] has released its latest report on the global arms trade, and as has been the case in recent studies, the conclusion is that the United States dominates the production and sale of arms. The US is not only in a leadership position, but dominates the entire rest of the planet combined. [Note: Access to this report on the Deutsche Welle website has been blocked. Access to the SIPRI home page also has been blocked — EAW]
The dominant position of US arms makers reflects both the US government’s long-standing priority of pushing overseas allies to buy American weapons, and the US military itself being by far the largest on the planet, and throwing hundreds of billions of dollars at the industry annually.
So it’s unsurprising that Lockheed Martin would not only be the biggest seller of arms to the US military, but also the biggest seller overall. Lockheed has the political influence to both ensure a key position domestically and protect its interests in exports abroad.
Other countries are eager to increase their own positions in the always growing global arms market, with Russia and Turkey both looking to grow substantially. Even with enormous growth, however, few non-US companies can even touch the top 10, and even then, are far behind the US leaders.
SIPRI: US Dwarfs Rest of World in Armaments Production
USAReally
(December 10, 2018) — According to a recent study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, the production of arms and military equipment in the world has increased.
The total sales of the 100 largest arms companies in 2017 amounted to $398.2 billion–2.5% more than in 2016 and 44% more than in 2002. Humanity continues to arm itself, and the sale of military equipment and equipment remains an important part of the exports and economic potential of a number of countries. US firms are by far at the top of the global arms trade, according to an expert report, while Russia, Turkey and China are also boosting production.
US companies hold more than half of the world market share for military equipment, according to the SIPRI. The report includes both domestic and foreign sales around the globe, but doesn’t include Chinese companies because of unreliable statistics, the institute said.
The American company Lockheed Martin remains the undisputed leader among the world’s 100 largest defense companies — no other company in the industry made a larger profit in 2017. With sales amounting to $44 billion, Lockheed Martin leads the SIPRI ranking by a wide margin.
The success of front-runner Lockheed Martin is based primarily on the large equipment requirements of the US armed forces, for which the group manufactures various weapon systems, including the F-35 Lightning combat aircraft and the C-130 Hercules transport aircraft.
Boeing is the world’s second-largest arms manufacturer. In July, President Trump awarded Boeing a contract to build two new Air Force One aircrafts for the president’s travels. Trump bargained the price down to $3.9 billion and did away with the previous light blue and white design.
The most reliable customer for the American armaments industry is the US Army, which is constantly in the market for new weapons and is able to afford extremely expensive systems such as aircraft carriers.
The arms race with countries such as Russia and China also fuels business: Lockheed Martin is currently developing an expensive “hypersonic missile” that can bypass conventional radar systems. Russia and China already have long-range missiles of this kind that fly at multiple speeds of sound. The arms race now also includes space, which Trump wants to dominate with a future “space force.” In the coming year, the US intends to invest the record sum of $716 billion in armaments.
Apart from the US, only a few European companies can compete in the top positions, including the Airbus Group. Airbus produces the breakdown-prone transport aircraft A400M for several European armies.
Great Britain remains the largest weapons manufacturer in Western Europe, followed by France. The British mega-group BAE Systems, which has more than 83,000 employees, is the only European manufacturer to make it into the top 5 in the world. BAE Systems is involved in the construction of the European fighter aircraft Eurofighter Typhoon, which is also sold to countries such as Saudi Arabia.
In 2017, Russian defense companies, which are benefiting from Putin’s modernization program for the army, made strong gains. The combined arms sales of Russian companies amounted to $37.7 billion in 2017, an 8.5% increase from a year earlier. Russia’s sales accounted for 9.5% of a worldwide total of $398.2 billion.
State-owned Almaz-Antey, Russia’s largest armaments company, has for the first time made it into SIPRI’s top 10.
Turkey is also arming itself: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strategy of becoming less dependent on arms imports has boosted Turkish arms manufacturers’ profits by 24%.
According to the Stockholm researchers, three Chinese companies should also be among the top players. However, since they publish little reliable information on their arms sales, they have not been included in the list.
Russia Rises To Second In Global Arms Sales,
With the US Still At Number 1
Radio Free Europe & Radio Liberty
The United States remains the global leader in arms sales, while Russia has surpassed Britain to take the No. 2 spot as it attempts to modernize its military, a leading research group says.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said on December 10 in its annual report that the combined sales of arms and military services by US companies rose 2 percent in 2017 to $222.6 billion. [Note: Access to the SIPRI annual report also has been blocked — EAW]
Russia became the second-largest arms producer, it said, with $37.7 billion, up 8.5 percent from a year earlier.
The group based its calculations on the combined sales of arms-related enterprises ranked among the Top 100 producers worldwide. The United States had 42 of the Top 100 companies, while Russia had 10, it said.
INFOGRAPHIC: Click to view.
“Russian companies have experienced significant growth in their arms sales since 2011,” said Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher with SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Program.
“This is in line with Russia’s increased spending on arms procurement to modernize its armed forces,” he added.
The report said that, for the first time, a Russian company, state-owned Almaz-Antey, appeared in the Top 10 in the ranking for global arms sales.
Alexandra Kuimova, a research assistant, said that Almaz-Antey, already Russia’s largest arms-producing company, increased arms sales 17 percent in 2017 to $8.6 billion.
The report said that along with Almaz-Antey, three other Russian Top 100 firms increased their arms sales by more than 15 percent: United Engine (25 percent), High Precision Systems (22 percent), and Tactical Missiles (19 percent).
Britain remained Western Europe’s largest arms seller, with a total of $35.7 billion, and it had seven companies listed in the Top 100.
The report also cited strong growth of Turkish arms sales, saying it “reflects Turkey’s ambitions to develop its arms industry to fulfill its growing demand for weapons and become less dependent on foreign suppliers.”
Overall, the report said, sales of the Top 100 firms totaled $398.2 billion in 2017, a 2.5 percent increase over 2016. Sales of Chinese firms were not included, it noted, saying the information was not reliable.
SIPRI, established in 1966, describes itself as an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament.
Japan’s Military Sees Record Spending,
Aims to Buy More US Arms — Nikkei
Osamu Tsukimori / Reuters
TOKYO (December 8, 2018) — Japan’s military looks to raise spending over the next five years in response to security challenges and to narrow Japan’s trade surplus with the United States by buying US equipment, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.
The Ministry of Defence looks to spend at least 27 trillion yen (188.2 billion pounds) between April 2019 and March 2024, with the spending rising an average 1.1 percent per year, exceeding the 0.8 percent average during the five years ending next March, the report said without identifying its sources.
Currently, payments on equipment and personnel expenses account for 80 percent of defence spending, Nikkei said. Under the plan, funds for new equipment purchases will be separated from these expenses, making it easier to buy equipment from the United States, it added.
Japan aims to have cabinet approval for the spending in mid-December, it said. The Ministry of Defence could not be reached immediately for comment.
Purchases of American-made equipment could help Tokyo ease trade friction with Washington as US President Donald Trump pushes Japan to buy more American goods, including military gear, while threatening to impose tariffs on Japanese auto imports to cut a trade deficit with Tokyo.
Japan’s Ministry of Defence in August sought record spending of 5.3 trillion yen next year to help pay for major upgrades to defences designed to shoot down any North Korean ballistic missile, which that Tokyo sees as a continued threat despite Pyongyang’s promise to abandon nuclear weapons.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been reinforcing Japan’s military to respond to any North Korea missile strike and counter China’s growing air and sea power in the waters around Japan.
Japan remains wary of North Korean promises to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes. The Ministry of Defence said in a white paper published in August Pyongyang remained Japan’s “most serious and pressing threat”.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.
ACTION ALERT: Arms Sales Oversight Act
BLOCKED!
Daniel R. Mahanty and Eric Eikenberry / Just Security
Learn how the “Arms Sales Oversight Act†Could Prevent American Arms from Contributing to the Next …
[Note: Access to this legislative campaign and the entire Just Security website has been blocked and replaced by the following alert:
The connection was reset
The connection to the server was reset while the page was loading.
* The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few
moments.
* If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network
connection.
* If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure
that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.
