Specialists from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) assessed the market for importers of conventional weapons and military equipment and compiled a list of the largest importing countries. The top five include four Asian states - India, China, South Korea and Pakistan. According to the study, in the period from 2006 to 2010, these countries accounted for 26% of all world military imports. A significant part of the weapons supplied to the Asian region are produced in Russia.
The next annual report SIPRI Yearbook 2011 will be released in June, while the Stockholm Institute updated the database on the supply of weapons and military equipment and published some excerpts from this material. In particular, at the end of 2010, India accounted for 9% of world imports, and it became the largest importer of arms and military equipment.
The SIPRI database has been maintained since 1950, it includes all data on the annual deliveries of weapons and military equipment. In assessing trends in the international arms trade, SIPRI experts use averaged over five-year periods. According to the institute, between 2006 and 2010, India spent $ 11.1 billion in 1990 prices on arms imports ($ 18.6 billion in 2010 prices).
In the same period, 2006-2010, India purchased aircraft for $ 7.9 billion, ground armored vehicles for $ 1.5 billion, and missile weapons for $ 990 million. 82% of Indian military imports come from Russia. In particular, India actively purchased Russian Su-30MKI fighters, including licenses for the production of aircraft on its territory, and T-90 tanks were also actively purchased to replace obsolete Indian T-55 and T-72 tanks.
Su-30MKI Indian Air Force
The five largest importers are three more Asian countries - China ($ 7.7 billion), South Korea ($ 7.4 billion), Pakistan ($ 5.6 billion). Pakistan and South Korea import weapons mainly from the United States. Beijing, like India, prefers Russian military products. In the total volume of Chinese military imports in the period from 2006 to 2010, the share of Russian military supplies is 84%.
During this period, the most demanded in China were aviation equipment, missile systems and air defense systems. From Russia, the Celestial Empire actively acquired power plants for fighters of its own production, helicopters and anti-aircraft missile systems. In particular, in the period from 2007 to 2010, the Chinese acquired and put on alert 15 divisions of the S-300PMU2 Favorit air defense system.
Pakistan most actively purchased ships, aircraft and missile weapons. Islamabad is actively cooperating with the United States and China, purchasing F-16 Fighting Falcon, JF-17 Thunder and J-10 fighters. At the same time, the Americans often transfer used fighters to Pakistan with the condition of their modernization at their enterprises. In 2009, Pakistan acquired J-10 fighters worth $ 3.5 billion from China, and also began to form JF-17 squadrons of joint Pakistani-Chinese development. In addition, Pakistan purchased 4 frigates of the F-22P project from China, three of which have already been delivered to the customer. Also, in order to strengthen its naval forces, Pakistan intends to conclude an agreement with China on the creation of a joint venture for the design and construction of diesel-electric submarines with air-independent power plants. In general, in 2006-2010, Pakistan purchased $ 1.2 billion worth of ships, $ 684 million worth of missiles, and $ 2.5 billion worth of aviation equipment.
JF-17 Thunder Pakistani Air Force
Another leader in the import of weapons, South Korea, the most popular were ships ($ 900 million), air defense systems ($ 830 million), aircraft ($ 3.5 billion). Large expenses on aviation are explained by the F-X program operating in South Korea, aimed at the complete rearmament of the country's air force.
In fifth place in the list of leaders in the import of military products is the only non-Asian country, Greece, which in 2006-2010 purchased weapons and equipment worth $ 4.9 billion. The greatest attention was paid to aviation ($ 2, 2 billion), ground armored vehicles (1, 5) and missile weapons (0, 4).
The predominance of Asians in the top five leaders is most likely due to the fact that all of these states have serious territorial disputes and are actually participating in a regional arms race.
For example, India has territorial disputes with Pakistan and China, which are allies and have been actively building up military-technical cooperation over the past few years. In general, according to experts, both Pakistan and India have significantly increased military spending over the past five years. The Indian Defense Ministry's spending on military imports increased from $ 1.3 billion in 2006 to $ 3.3 billion in 2010.
Pakistan during the same period increased the volume of military imports by almost 10 times. If in 2006 this state purchased arms and military equipment worth 275 million dollars abroad, then in 2010 this figure was already 2.6 billion dollars. Thanks to the rapid development of its own defense industry, China has reduced spending from $ 2.9 billion in 2006 to $ 559 million in 2010, but it is still in the top five.
South Korea is not participating in the arms race in the region. The import indicators of this state practically do not change from year to year. In 2006, South Korea spent $ 1.7 billion on imported military products, in 2007 - 1.8 billion, in 2008 - 1.8 billion, in 2009 - 886 million, and in 2010 - $ 1.1 billion. But in the near future, in connection with the deterioration of relations with its neighbor, the DPRK, one should expect that the country's expenditures on arms imports will increase significantly. Incidentally, the DPRK's entry into the top five in terms of military imports most likely did not happen just because there are numerous international sanctions against it.
The largest arms dealers over the same period, according to SIPRI, are the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. These five leaders in military exports, which have not changed over the past few years, have delivered $ 91.9 billion in 1990 prices to the arms and military hardware market ($ 153.3 billion in 2010 prices). During the indicated period, 2006-2010, the United States exported arms worth $ 37 billion, Russia - $ 28.1 billion, Germany - $ 13 billion, France - $ 8.8 billion, and Great Britain - $ 4.9 billion. …
At the end of February 2011, SIPRI also released its 2009 ranking of the 100 largest defense enterprises. Seven places in the top ten are occupied by American companies. Of the $ 401 billion, $ 247 billion is accounted for by American defense companies, the rest by all the rest of the top 100 manufacturers. The total sales of Russian companies in 2009 amounted to $ 9.2 billion.
These countries supplied their weapons and equipment mainly to Asia and Oceania, which account for 43% of all world military imports. Europe accounts for 21% of arms imports, the Middle East - 17%, North and South America - 12%, Africa - 7%.
Although it should be noted that the assessment by experts from SIPRI differs quite significantly from the data of national organizations related to the arms trade. So, according to the Defense Cooperation Office (DSCA) of the US Defense Ministry, the volume of the country's military exports in 2010 compared to 2009 decreased, amounting to $ 31.6 billion, in 2009 this figure was equal to $ 38.1 billion. It turns out that the total volume of US military sales in 2006-2010 turned out to be significantly higher than the 37 billion declared by SIPRI.
A similar picture emerges with regard to the data for Russia. According to Rosoboronexport, the country's military exports in 2010 exceeded $ 10 billion, and in 2009 amounted to $ 8.8 billion. At the same time, in the period from 2000 to 2010, Russia sold weapons worth $ 60 billion, supplying military products to more than 80 countries of the world.
This difference in estimates is explained by the fact that SIPRI calculates only the actual volumes of military sales, and official government agencies publish data, taking into account the value of the concluded contracts. In addition, the reports of the ministries include the cost of contracts for specific types of weapons, the cost of licenses sold and services rendered. But, nevertheless, the SIPRI calculations provide a general picture of the global arms trade.
