Everything about The Arms Industry totally explained
The
arms industry is a massive global
industry and
business which
manufactures and sells
weapons and
military technology and equipment.
Defense companies produce arms mainly for the
armed forces of
states. Products include
guns,
ammunition,
missiles,
military aircraft,
military vehicles,
ships,
electronic Systems, and more. The arms industry also conducts significant
research and development.
It is estimated that yearly, over 1 trillion dollars are spent on military expenditures and arms worldwide (2% of World
GDP). In 2004 over $30 billion were spent in the international arms trade (a figure that excludes domestic sales of arms) Many industrialized countries have a domestic arms industry to supply their own military forces. Some countries also have a substantial legal or illegal domestic trade in weapons for use by its citizens. The illegal trade in
small arms is prevalent in many countries and regions affected by political instability.
Contracts to supply a given country's military are awarded by the government, making arms contracts of substantial political importance. The link between politics and the arms trade can result in the development of what US President
Dwight D. Eisenhower described as a
military-industrial complex, where the armed forces, commerce, and politics become closely linked. Various corporations, some publicly held, others private, bid for these contracts, which are often worth many billions of dollars. Sometimes, such as the contract for the new Joint Strike Fighter, a competitive tendering process takes place, where the decision is made on the merits of the design submitted by the companies involved. Other times, no bidding or competition takes place.
In the
Cold War Era, arms exports were used by both the
Soviet Union and the
United States to influence their standings in other countries, particularly
Third World Countries. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, global arms exports initially fell slightly, but have since grown again to cold war levels. The United States is the overall top supplier of weapons. The United States is also the top supplier of weapons to the developing world, accounting for around 36% of worldwide weapons sales, followed by Russia, Britain, Germany and China.
The
Control Arms Campaign
, founded by
Amnesty International,
Oxfam, and the
International Action Network on Small Arms, estimates that there are over 600 million items of small arms in circulation, and that over 1135 companies based in more than 98 different countries manufacture small arms as well as their various components and ammunition. According to Oxfam, an estimated 500,000 individuals die in small arms-conflicts every year, approximately one death per minute.
Sectors
Land-based weapons
This category includes everything from
light arms to
heavy artillery, and the majority of producers are small. Many are located in
Third World countries. International trade in
handguns,
machine guns,
tanks,
armored personal carriers and other relatively inexpensive weapons is substantial. There is relatively little regulation at the international level, and as a result, many legitimately produced weapons fall into the hands of rebel forces, terrorists, or regimes under sanctions.
Aerospace systems
Encompassing military aircraft (both land-based and
naval aviation), conventional missiles, and
military satellites, this is the most technologically advanced sector of the market. It is also the least competitive from an economic standpoint, with a handful of companies dominating the entire market. The top clients and major producers are virtually all located in the West, with the United States easily in first place. Prominent aerospace firms include Dassault Aviation,
Lockheed Martin,
Boeing, and Britain's
BAE Systems. There are also several multinational consortia mostly involved in the manufacturing of fighter jets, such as the
Eurofighter. The largest military contract in history, signed in October 2001, involved the development of the
Joint Strike Fighter.
Naval systems
All of the world's
major powers maintain substantial maritime forces to provide a forward presence and enhance overall mobility, with the largest nations possessing
aircraft carriers,
nuclear submarines and advanced
anti-air defense systems. The vast majority of military ships are conventionally powered, but some are nuclear-powered. There is also a large global market in second-hand naval vessels, generally purchased by
developing countries from Western governments.
World's largest defense budgets
This is a list of the fifteen countries with the highest defense budgets for the year 2006. The information is from the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Total World spending amounted to $ 1,158 billion USD in 2006, with nearly half of the total amount spent by the
United States.
- Note 1: data for China and Russia are estimates, their expenditures are not well known.
- Note 2: data for Saudi Arabia include expenditure for public order and safety and might be slight overestimates.
- Note 3: in the percentage spending per GDP, the GDP list (2006) of the International Monetary Fund was taken.
- Note 4: 1/4 of the world total il illicit and/or black market trade.
World's Largest Arms Exporters
The unit in this table is millions of
dollars, US.
| Supplier |
000 |
001 |
002 |
003 |
004 |
005 |
006 |
007 |
000-2007 |
| USA |
7417 |
5743 |
5011 |
5601 |
6654 |
7083 |
7929 |
7454 |
52789 |
| Russia |
4138 |
5742 |
5655 |
5442 |
6485 |
6449 |
6623 |
4588 |
43661 |
| Germany (FRG) |
1621 |
825 |
899 |
1881 |
1001 |
1533 |
3850 |
3395 |
14246 |
| France |
1027 |
1199 |
1312 |
1282 |
2687 |
2050 |
1557 |
2690 |
13154 |
| UK |
1356 |
1116 |
742 |
680 |
1083 |
912 |
1063 |
1151 |
8010 |
| Netherlands |
259 |
184 |
243 |
343 |
271 |
877 |
1481 |
1355 |
4794 |
| Sweden |
306 |
849 |
127 |
468 |
306 |
587 |
472 |
413 |
3424 |
| Italy |
192 |
224 |
407 |
321 |
216 |
787 |
860 |
562 |
3420 |
| China |
228 |
498 |
544 |
553 |
271 |
223 |
564 |
355 |
3353 |
| Ukraine |
280 |
649 |
210 |
456 |
427 |
308 |
133 |
109 |
2917 |
| Israel |
321 |
298 |
365 |
309 |
533 |
244 |
258 |
238 |
2614 |
| Spain |
46 |
7 |
120 |
158 |
73 |
116 |
803 |
529 |
1873 |
| Canada |
83 |
129 |
182 |
279 |
305 |
193 |
227 |
343 |
1757 |
| Switzerland |
104 |
120 |
109 |
139 |
201 |
166 |
144 |
211 |
1260 |
| Belarus |
261 |
299 |
54 |
80 |
50 |
24 |
|
|
838 |
| Poland |
43 |
70 |
36 |
70 |
65 |
103 |
169 |
135 |
678 |
| South Korea |
8 |
165 |
|
114 |
20 |
39 |
89 |
214 |
623 |
| Uzbekistan |
|
|
73 |
340 |
170 |
4 |
|
|
587 |
| South Africa |
18 |
29 |
16 |
73 |
41 |
24 |
140 |
80 |
420 |
| Czech Republic |
78 |
89 |
58 |
64 |
1 |
40 |
56 |
13 |
406 |
The information is from the
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
List of major weapon manufacturers
» For a complete list, see: List of modern armament manufacturers
Control and international treaty
The
European Union Council stated to the
U.N. General Assembly:
We are committed to upholding, implementing and further strengthening the multilateral disarmament and non-proliferation framework in the fight against threats which are tending to escape the control of national sovereignty, the challenges deriving from destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons, from illicit or irresponsible arms trade, and from the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which are creating new and growing hot-spots of international tension. In this regard, the EU welcomes the growing support in all parts of the world for an International Arms Trade Treaty and is firmly committed to this process.
Institutes participating in weapon research and warfare simulation
Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (External Link)
Bolt, Beranek and Newman
QinetiQ
World Security Institute
Ethical dimension
For many people, arms exports may pose an ethical challenge, as they may see supplying the weapons for a conflict as morally akin to becoming involved with negligible personal, national or corporate risk. Essentially, they view the arms industry as a means of profiting from war and death when failure to supply arms could lead to an early disengagement.
On the other hand, exporting arms to groups (or nations) with "laudable" goals- a rebel group overthrowing a fascist regime, say- can be an invaluable equalizer in the conflict. And there's no shortage of parties to a conflict- the Hutus during the Rwandan genocide, for example- that had little trouble making use of such archaic, inexpensive technology as the machete, to attack and terrorize the Tutsi community.
Of course- and this is endemic of nearly every debate over arms trade- the terminology used and the people it refers to can be frustratingly fluid. As years pass, governments decide on new "interests" and circumstances change accordingly. "Freedom fighters" become "insurgents". "Terrorists" become "invaluable allies", and "religious zealots" morph into "agents of stability". Entire nations, to use the parlance of the early 21st century, can go from the "Coalition of the Willing" to the "Axis of Evil" in very little time, and every change affects policy and the distribution of arms in the world.
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