Despite the post-Soviet crisis, Russia has managed to achieve a high level of sales of weapons and military equipment
According to a new report, Major Trends in the International Arms Trade 2013, prepared by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the total international arms trade in 2009-2013 was 14 percent higher than in 2004-2008. The top five export leaders included the United States, Russia, Germany, China and France, while India, China, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia became the largest importers. Despite the stability of the world market, there are still certain changes in the table of ranks. In particular, China again raised its rating among the largest arms suppliers, pushed France and moved to 4th place
The report was prepared by SIPRI experts Simon and Peter Weseman. During the period under review, arms deliveries to Africa, both the Americas, Asia and Oceania increased significantly, to Europe decreased, and in the Middle East remained at approximately the same level.
SIPRI identified 55 countries among the main exporters of military products (MPP) in 2009-2013. The United States has a market share of 29 percent, Russia - 27, Germany - 7, China - 6, France - 5 percent. Together, the top five account for 74 percent of the global volume, up 9 percent over 2004-2008, with the US and Russia accounting for 56 percent.
Largest sellers
USA. By 2009–2013, the exports of this country decreased by 1 percent compared to the period of 2004–2008 - 29 against 30. Nevertheless, the United States retained its leadership, carrying out supplies to at least 90 countries of the world. Asia and Oceania became the largest recipients of American weapons - 47 percent of all shipments. This is followed by the Middle East (28%) and Europe (16%).
"China once again raised its rating among the largest arms suppliers, pushed France and moved to 4th place."
Aircraft (61%) dominate US military defense exports, including 252 combat aircraft. According to European analysts, the volume will be increased due to the planned deliveries of new fifth generation F-35 fighters to Australia, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and the UK. It is these aircraft that will begin to dominate the aviation component of US exports, despite the fact that the F-35 program is the most expensive in the field of weapons. To date, out of 590 fighters in the export version, only five have been delivered. Some countries have cut orders or are considering less sophisticated alternatives.
In addition, in 2009-2013, the United States delivered long-range missile defense systems to Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, and received orders from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the Republic of Korea.
Russia. “Despite the post-Soviet crisis, Russia has managed to achieve a high level of arms sales,” said Simon Weseman, senior researcher at SIPRI. During the period under review, Moscow supplied military equipment to 52 states. The most significant event was the sale of the Vikramaditya aircraft carrier to India, so the second place in the world rankings with 27 percent of the share did not surprise anyone. More than half of domestic exports came from India (38%), China (12%) and Algeria (11%). If we look at the regions, then 65 percent of Russian military supplies were sent to Asia and Oceania, 14 percent to Africa, and 10 percent to the Middle East.
The arms trade is on the rise
Collage by Andrey Sedykh
Russia has become the largest exporter of ships - 27 percent of all world shipments of naval equipment, including the aforementioned Vikramaditya and a nuclear multipurpose submarine for the Indian Navy. However, the bulk of sales, like that of the United States, were aircraft (43%), including 219 combat aircraft.
Germany, although it retained the third position among the arms giants, but its military exports in 2009-2013 compared with the same period in 2004-2008 decreased by 24 percent. The main buyers of German MP are neighbors in Europe (32% of the total volume), as well as the countries of Asia and Oceania (29%), the Middle East (17%), North and South America (22%). Germany remained the world's largest submarine exporter, with nine ships for five countries. By the end of 2013, national shipbuilders had received orders for 23 submarines.
The second "horse" is also traditional - this is the main battle tanks (MBT). Germany took second place after Russia in the ranking, supplying 650 tanks to seven countries, including five outside Europe. By the end of 2013, the Germans had a backlog of orders for more than 280 tanks, including 62 Leopard-2s for Qatar.
China, as noted above, has achieved the greatest success in the arms trade, pushing France out of 4th place. The volume of military exports by 2009-2013 increased by 212 percent, and the global market share increased from two to six percent. During this period, Beijing supplied MPP to 35 states, but almost 3/4 of the total volume fell on Pakistan (47%), Bangladesh (13%) and Myanmar (12%).
The rapid development of China's military technology is partly due to the fact that the country supplies military equipment to the largest importers, including Algeria, Morocco and Indonesia, in direct competition with Russia, the United States and European manufacturers. In particular, the PRC managed to win a tender for the supply of an anti-aircraft missile system (SAM) HQ-9 / FD-2000 to Turkey, bypassing all these rivals. Although the results of the competition have not yet been finally announced, the victory in it is very significant, experts say.
Table 1
France fell back to 5th place in the list of the world's leading sellers of military equipment, reducing its share in the world market from nine to five percent, and its exports fell by 30 percent. In 2009-2013, deliveries of military products went to 69 countries, including 42 percent to Asia and Oceania, 19 percent to Europe, 15 percent to Africa, 12 percent to the Middle East, 11 percent to both America.
China managed to "squeeze" 13 percent of French exports mainly due to the licensed production of helicopters, in particular the Z-9 variant of the AS-565 aircraft. India should become the main recipient of French products. 49 Mirage-2000-5 fighters, six Scorpen submarines have already been ordered, and a contract for 126 Rafal aircraft is being prepared.
Major buyers
In contrast to the stable list of export leaders, the five largest world importers of PPs have changed several times since 1950. Only in recent years has their rating more or less stabilized, and India and China now occupy the first places in the periods of 2004-2008 and 2009-2013.
table 2
At the end of 2009-2013, SIPRI reviewed 152 countries that purchased military products. In addition to India and China, the top five include Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. All five accounted for 32 percent of total arms purchases. The main sales region is Asia and Oceania (almost 50% of the total). This is followed by the Middle East (17%), Europe (15%), North and South America (11%), Africa (9%).
African countries increased imports by 53 percent. The main buyers were Algeria (36%), Morocco (22%) and Sudan (9%). Sub-Saharan countries supplied 41 percent of all continental imports of military products. Weapons and equipment for ensuring safety at sea are especially popular. This is primarily due to the military-political situation. Let's say Sudan and Uganda are involved in a series of conflicts and account for 17 and 16 percent of arms shipments to sub-Saharan countries.
In 2009-2013, Sudan increased procurement by 35 per cent over the previous cycle. 44 Mi-24 attack helicopters from Russia, four Su-25 attack aircraft and 12 Su-24 front-line bombers from Belarus, 170 T-72 and T-55 tanks from Ukraine were purchased. These systems were used in the border conflict with South Sudan, as well as in the province of Darfur, despite the UN embargo on the use of weapons there.
Uganda's military imports in 2009-2013 increased by as much as 1200 percent compared to 2004-2008. The main reason is the purchase in Russia of six Su-30 combat aircraft and 44 T-90S tanks, as well as four S-125 anti-aircraft missile systems in Ukraine. Some of these weapons were used in the South Sudan civil war in 2013.
America … The volume of deliveries of conventional weapons to both continents increased by 10 percent, but in the world volume of imports of military equipment decreased from 11 to 10 percent. The USA was the largest supplier of conventional weapons here in 2009-2013 and 6th on the list of importers. Venezuela showed high activity in the markets, becoming the largest buyer in Latin America, the second largest buyer on both continents and the 17th in the global list.
For several years, Brazil has been looking for opportunities to gain access to foreign technology through the purchase of weapons to strengthen its national defense industry. In 2012, this strategy began to show its first results. Military imports increased by 65 percent. Despite normal relations with neighboring countries, Brazil has embarked on several major arms procurement programs.
In particular, after a long waiting period caused by financial constraints, in 2013 this country, following a tender, selected 36 Swedish JAS-39 Gripen-E fighters for a total of $ 4.8 billion. She also ordered one nuclear multipurpose and four non-nuclear submarines "Scorpen" from France in the amount of $ 9.7 billion, began licensed production of 2,044 Italian armored vehicles "Guarani", having signed a contract worth $ 3.6 billion with the Italian company Iveco.
Colombia continues to import weapons to combat illegal armed groups (IAFs). The United States supplied Bogotá with Pavey guided bombs, which were used to eliminate illegal armed groups, as well as 35 UH-60L transport helicopters, some of which were modified for the use of Israeli Spike-MR guided missiles. Israel sold additional precision weapons to Colombia, including 13 Kfir combat aircraft with Griffin guided bombs, Hermes-900 and Hermes-450 reconnaissance UAVs.
Asia and Oceania … The volume of supplies of military equipment to this region during the period under review increased by 34 percent. In total, his states accounted for 47 percent of the total import of military products, while in 2004-2008 - 40 percent. The countries of South Asia received 45 percent of the regional volume, East Asia - 27, Southeast Asia (SEA) - 23, Oceania - 8 and Central Asia - 1 percent. All three of the world's largest importers of military products in 2009–2013 were from the Asian region - India, China and Pakistan.
New Delhi's military purchases increased by 111 percent, making the country the world's largest arms importer in 2009-2013. The share amounted to 14 percent of world imports of military products, which is almost three times higher than the similar indicators of China or Pakistan, its regional rivals. India's largest trade counterparty turned out to be Russia, which supplied 75 percent of the total imports of military products, the rest of the manufacturers lagged far behind: the United States - 7 percent, Israel - 6 percent. During the same period, Pakistan's military acquisitions increased by 119 percent, with 54 percent of imports coming from China and 27 percent from the United States.
During 2009-2013, India and Pakistan made significant investments in attack aircraft. In particular, recently New Delhi has received 90 of the ordered 222 Russian Su-30MKIs, as well as 27 of 45 carrier-based MiG-29K / KUB for its aircraft carriers. In addition, there is an agreement for 62 Russian MiG-29SMT and 49 French Mirage-2000-5 fighters. India also selected, but has not yet placed an order for 144 Russian fifth-generation T-50 aircraft and 126 French Rafale.
Pakistan has received 42 JF-17 combat aircraft from China and has ordered over 100 more aircraft of this type. Islamabad also purchased 18 new F-16Cs from the United States and expects 13 used F-16Cs from Jordan.
In 2013, relations between the DPRK and the Republic of Korea (ROK) deteriorated again. Pyongyang is under the influence of UN sanctions on the supply of weapons, therefore, has concentrated its efforts on the creation of its own ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons as the main weapons of war. Seoul is using its economic power to continuously modernize its military.
Although Kazakhstan has significant potential for its own production of weapons, it became the 8th largest importer of military equipment in the world in 2009-2013. Eighty percent of the purchases came from the United States, some of which are aimed at increasing the capabilities of detecting and destroying ballistic missiles.
In particular, the country received 21 F-15K fighters with guided bombs and missiles from the United States during this period. Last year, Seoul made a decision to purchase four long-range RQ-4A Global Hawk reconnaissance high-altitude UAVs and 40 F-35A conventional takeoff and landing fighters there, and 177 Taurus KEPD-350 cruise missiles from Germany.
Europe reduced the import of military equipment by 25 percent. Great Britain stands out here with 12 percent of the total regional volume, followed by Azerbaijan (12%) and Greece (11%). Many European countries chose used weapons to replenish their arsenals.
Azerbaijan, waging a territorial dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, increased purchases of military equipment by 378 percent in 2009-2013. Mainly from Russia, which accounted for 80 percent of the supplies. In addition, weapons and military equipment were purchased in Ukraine, Belarus, Israel and Turkey.
Greece ranked 5th in the list of the world's largest importers of PP in 2004-2008. However, then the country was seized by a deep economic crisis and defense programs had to be cut by 47 percent. The delivery of four submarines ordered in Germany before the onset of the crisis was significantly delayed. In 2013, investigations into corruption in military deals were conducted and the results raised serious questions about the influence of decision-makers on arms purchases.
Middle East increased imports of weapons by 3 percent. In 2009-2013, 22 percent of the total volume to the countries of the region went to the UAE, 20 percent to Saudi Arabia and 15 percent to Turkey. Remaining under UN sanctions on arms imports, Iran received only one percent. The Middle East is dominated by US manufacturers, which accounted for 42 percent of all military equipment shipments.
In 2009-2013, the UAE was the world's fourth largest importer of weapons and equipment, while Saudi Arabia took 5th place, significantly rising from 18th position in the previous period. Both Arab monarchies have large orders for the supply of military equipment for various purposes and extensive plans for the future. For example, activity in the Saudi Arabian markets will increase due to the additional shipment of 48 Typhoon aircraft from the UK, as well as the receipt of 154 F-15SA fighters from the United States since 2015. In 2013, the kingdom placed an order in Canada for armored combat vehicles worth $ 10 billion.
The countries in a state of conflict should be noted separately. The Egyptian events in July and August 2013 led to the restriction of the export of MPP to this country by some manufacturers. In particular, Spain interrupted the planned sales of military transport aircraft C-295. The United States suspended the planned deliveries of 12 F-16 fighters, M-1A1 tanks and 10 AN-64D combat helicopters, but sold the corvette at the end of 2013. At the same time, Russia handed over 14 Mi-17V-5 helicopters to Egypt and is still promoting its weapons here, while Germany continues to build two Project 209 submarines.
Syria is largely dependent on Russia for defense procurement, but the planned deliveries of MiG-29 fighters and S-300PMU-2 anti-aircraft missile systems in 2013 were again postponed.
Iraq is rebuilding its armed forces, receiving major supplies of military equipment from several trading partners. At the end of 2013, the first four Mi-35 attack helicopters from Russia arrived here; other types of Russian weapons and military equipment are expected. In addition, Baghdad previously ordered 24 T-50IQ trainer / combat training aircraft to South Korea, and deliveries from the United States of the first of 36 F-16C aircraft are due to begin this year.
