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

Russian arms, such as this Ground-to-air system, remain among the most exported [1]

It is estimated that yearly, over 900 billion dollars are spent on arms.[2] 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. The arms industry can thus pose problems related to its lack of transparency, as both legal and illegal contracts are often made in secret.

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 President Eisenhower described as a military-industrial complex, where the armed forces, commerce, and politics become closely linked.

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 are manufacturing small arms as well as their various components and ammunition. An average of over 500,000 deaths are caused by the use of small arms every year, approximately one death per minute.[3]

For many people, the arms trade is problematic as they may see supplying the weapons for a conflict as morally akin to becoming involved oneself, but at 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.

[edit] Top Arms Exporters

Figures are in United States dollars.

Sources: CRS, SIPRIand the UN website

[edit] World Arms Exports

Source: Arms Export Trends, [4] Source: Arms Production Trends 2004, [5]

[edit] United States arms trade

The United States is by far the largest exporter of weapons in the world, selling more weapons than the next 14 countries combined. Military sales account for about 18 percent of the national 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.

[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 [6]
• DARPA
• Bolt, Beranek and Newman
• QinetiQ

[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

• 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
• World Military Business Timeline
• The British Library - finding information on the defence industry
• Weapons Review - Information About Weapons and Defence Industry and Technology *new