Despite a recession that knocked down global arms sales last year, the US expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, a new congressional study showed.
The US signed weapons agreements valued at US$37.8 billion last year, or 68.4 percent of all business in the global arms bazaar, up significantly from US sales of US$25.4 billion the year before.
Italy was a distant second, with US$3.7 billion in worldwide weapons sales last year, while Russia was third with US$3.5 billion in arms sales last year — down considerably from the US$10.8 billion in weapons deals signed by Moscow in 2007.
The growth in weapons sales by the US last year was particularly noticeable against worldwide trends. The value of global arms sales in 2008 was US$55.2 billion, a drop of 7.6 percent from 2007 and the lowest total for international weapons agreements since 2005.
The increase in US weapons sales around the world “was attributable not only to major new orders from clients in the Near East and in Asia, but also to the continuation of significant equipment and support services contracts with a broad-based number of US clients globally,” according to the study, titled, Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations.
The annual report was produced by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress. Regarded as the most detailed collection of unclassified global arms sales data available to the general public, it was delivered to the House and Senate on Friday, ready for members’ return from the Labor Day recess.
Weapons sales to developing nations reached US$42.2 billion last year, a nominal increase from the US$41.1 billion in 2007.
The US was the leader not only in arms sales worldwide, but also in sales to nations in the developing world, signing US$29.6 billion in weapons agreements with these nations, or 70.1 percent of all such deals.
The study found that the larger arms deals concluded by the US with developing nations last year included a US$6.5 billion air defense system for the United Arab Emirates, a US$2.1 billion jet fighter deal with Morocco and a US$2 billion attack helicopter agreement with Taiwan. Other large weapons agreements were reached between the US and India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea and Brazil.
Russia was far behind last year with US$3.3 billion in weapons sales to the developing world, about 7.8 percent of all such agreements. The report says that while Russia continues to have China and India as its main weapons clients, Russia’s new focus is on arms sales to Latin American, in particular to Venezuela.
France was third with US$2.5 billion in arms sales to developing nations, or about 5.9 percent of weapons deals with these countries.
The top buyers in the developing world last year were the United Arab Emirates, which signed US$9.7 billion in arms deals; Saudi Arabia, which signed US$8.7 billion in weapons agreements; and Morocco, with US$5.4 billion in arms purchases.
The study uses figures in 2008 dollars, with amounts for previous years adjusted for inflation to give a constant financial measurement.
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