Arms industry

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The AK-47 has been produced in greater numbers than any other assault rifle and has been used in conflicts all over the world.

The arms industry is a massive global industry. Its products include guns, ammunition, missiles, military aircraft, and their associated consumables and systems. The arms trade is the exchange of arms or weapons among two or more parties, generally but not exclusively sovereign nations.

[edit] Global impact

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 nations (conflicts commonly referred to as "proxy" wars). Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the global arms trade has grown exponentially, a result of the massive buildup that contributed to the bankrupting of that nation. Years of governmental instability and a lack of oversight had a predictable effect, with a sudden boom in black market weapon sales that sent ripples throughout the globe.

It is estimated that yearly, over 900 billion dollars are spent on arms.[1] Almost every industrialized country in the world has a domestic arms industry to supply its 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. Frequently, there are links between the legal arms trade and the illegal arms trade, with legally purchased weaponry being re-sold for illegal purposes. Some researchers point out that a lack of transparency in the arms industry allows for these illicit transactions.

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 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 furiously for these contracts, which are often worth many billion dollars over its course. Sometimes, such as the contract for the new Joint Strike Fighter, the decision is made on the merits of the design submitted by the companies involved. Other times, no bidding or competition takes place- a subject of controversy in recent global conflicts.

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.[2]

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 is 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.

[edit] World arms exports

Source: Arms Export Trends, [3] Source: Arms Production Trends 2004, [4]

[edit] United States arms trade

The United States is by far the largest exporter of weapons in the world, with a sales volume that exceeds the next 14 countries combined. Military sales equate to about 18 percent of the Federal budget, far and away the greatest proportion of any nation. (Estimated budget authority as presented in the President's budget.) John Ralston Saul states that the American government cannot reduce arms sales because of the consequent fall in GDP. (See John Ralston Saul's The Collapse of Globalism, 2005)

U.S. arms are sold either as Foreign military sales (FMS), in which The Pentagon is an intermediate negotiator, or as Direct Commercial Sales (DCS), where a company directly negotiates with its buyer. Many sales require a license from the State Department. The Defense Department manages the Excess Defense Articles (EDA), weapons from the US military given away or sold at bargain prices, emergency drawdowns, assistance provided at the discretion of the President, and International Military Education and Training (IMET).

From 1989 to 1996, the global value of direct commercial arms sales was US$257 billion, of which 45% was exported from the US. According to the 2005 annual US congress reports, 58% of all US arms trade contracts are made with developing countries. The most recent World Policy Report, an annual update issued by the Arms Trade Research Center, a more detailed breakdown of US military spending is offered. It is here touched on from the following passages from the executive summary, expounded upon later in the report.

"In 2003, the last year for which full information is available, the United States transferred weaponry to 18 of the 25 countries involved in active conflicts. From Angola, Chad and Ethiopia, to Colombia, Pakistan and the Philippines, transfers through the two largest U.S. arms sales programs (Foreign Military Sales and Commercial Sales) to these conflict nations totaled nearly $1 billion in 2003, with the vast bulk of the dollar volume going to Israel ($845.6 million).

In 2003, more than half of the top 25 recipients of U.S. arms transfers in the developing world (13 of 25) were defined as undemocratic by the U.S. State Department’s Human Rights Report: in the sense that "citizens do not have the right to change their own government" or that right was seriously abridged. These 13 nations received over $2.7 billion in U.S. arms transfers under the Foreign Military Sales and Commercial Sales programs in 2003, with the top recipients including Saudi Arabia ($1.1 billion), Egypt ($1.0 billion), Kuwait ($153 million), the United Arab Emirates ($110 million) and Uzbekistan ($33 million)."

[edit] International military education and training

In fiscal year 2002, $70 million USD was spent on International Military Education and Training IMET for 113 countries. During this same year, $46 million worth of drawdowns were provided to Nigeria ($4 million), Afghanistan ($2 million), Georgia ($25 million), the Philippines ($10 million) and Tunisia ($5 million).

Defense contractors are weapon manufacturers or companies participating in weapon research and warfare simulation.

See also private military contractor.

[edit] List of major weapon manufacturers

For a complete list, see: List of modern armament manufacturers

[edit] Institutes participating in weapon research and warfare simulation

• Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research [5]
• Bolt, Beranek and Newman
• QinetiQ
• World Security Institute

[edit] See also

• Al Yamamah arms deal (Britain - Saudi Arabia)
• Small arms
• Small arms proliferation issues
• European Union arms embargo on China
• Landmine
• List of National Defense Industries
• Canadian Arms trade
• Lord of War

[edit] External links

• World Security Institute's Center for Defense Information
• Campaign Against Arms Trade (UK)
• SIPRI arms industry reports and database
• SIPRI list of Top 100 arms-producing companies
• The Guardian's arms trade report
• List of participators of the Defence System and Equipment international conference in London, 2003
• FAS's Arms Sales Monitoring Project
• UN Department for Disarmament Affairs
• ControlArms.org
• Amnesty International: Arms Trade Treaty
• The British Library - finding information on the defence industry
• Weapons Review - Information About Weapons and Defence Industry and Technology *new