Saturday, May 21, 2022
  • About us
    • Write for us
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms of use
    • Privacy Policy
  • RSS Feeds
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us
DefenceTalk
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports
No Result
View All Result
DefenceTalk
No Result
View All Result

Costs of War: Dollar Deals

by International Relations and Security Network
September 17, 2009
in Defense Geopolitics News
3 min read
0
14
VIEWS

The report on the global arms bazaar is produced every year by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), a division of the Library of Congress, and is the most comprehensive publicly available collection of data on the topic.

The explosive growth of US arms sales is especially notable beside the general decline in arms sales last year. The value of all arms transfer agreements worldwide in 2008 was $55.2 billion, according to the report – a decrease of 7.6 percent from the previous year.

US sales accounted for $37.8 billion – 68.4 percent – of the 2008 total, a huge leap from $25.4 billion in 2007. The figure includes maintenance, service and upgrade deals on past sales as well as new business. The next largest arms merchant, Italy, ran what the report calls “a very distant second” with $3.7 billion in deals, or about 6.7 percent of the global trade. Russia ranked third, with deals worth $3.5 billion in 2008, down substantially from $10.8 billion in 2007. Collectively, these three nations made sales agreements valued at $45 billion last year, 81.5 percent of the entire international arms market.

The fall in global weapons sales last year is attributable to the “decision of some purchasing nations to forego the purchase of major systems due to budgetary considerations in the face of the severe international recession,” writes Richard Grimmett, the report’s author.

But the recession has not affected all potential customers equally. “Other prospective purchasers in the developing world with significant financial assets can continue to launch new and costly weapons-procurement programs, due to their wealth,” he writes, noting that increases in petrochemical prices have boosted the purchasing power of oil-producing states.

The vast majority of US sales – nearly $30 billion of the $37.8 billion total – went to developing countries, and unsurprisingly, the largest deals were with states in the Middle East. The United Arab Emirates paid more than $6.5 billion for a Patriot air defense missile system; Morocco paid $2.1 billion for 24 F-16 fighter aircraft; and Iraq bought 140 M1A1 Abrams tanks and 6 C-130 cargo aircraft for a total of $1.2 billion. There were also major US sales to India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, South Korea, Taiwan and Brazil.

The UAE was the largest arms buyers in the developing world in 2008, spending $9.7 billion and nosing ahead of Saudi Arabia, which spent $8.7 billion, and Morocco, with $5.4 billion.

Among sellers to the developing world, Russia was far behind the US in 2008 with $3.3 billion, about 7.8 percent of the total market. Grimmett writes that while China and India continue to be Russia’s main clients, their latest focus is on new customers in Latin America, in particular Venezuela.

Arms deals are odd, hybrid transactions in the most heavily regulated market place of all. Though fulfilled by private sector corporations, the deals are negotiated by governments as acts of national policy – almost a kind of state capitalism.

During the Cold War, “providing conventional weapons to friendly states was an instrument of foreign policy utilized by the United States and its allies,” notes the report, adding this was also true for the Soviet Union and its allies. “Following the Cold War’s end, U.S. arms transfer policy has been based on assisting friendly and allied nations in developing and maintaining their ability to deal with regional security threats and concerns.”

The report notes that the US has built “an especially wide base of arms equipment clients globally” which, even in the absence of new business, provides “a continuing series of arms agreements annually, if only to provide upgrades, spare parts, ordnance and support services for the large variety of weapons systems it has previously sold.”

But the large number of states to which the US provides weapons does not just provide a steady revenue stream for the military-industrial complex and the guarantee that US allies will not be outgunned by its enemies or their surrogates. It provides one other major strategic advantage to the US, as well: the dependence of those clients on American goodwill to maintain and upgrade the high-tech systems they have bought.

Last week, discussing the attitude of Iraq’s Sunni-ruled neighbors toward US arms sales to the Shiite-led government in Baghdad, author and former CIA analyst Ken Pollack, a key supporter of the Bush invasion, said the US’ Arab allies were enthusiastically in favor of such deals.

He said Arab leaders were urging the US to sell the Iraqis weapons system, up to and including the F-16 jet, “to make sure they (the Iraqis) are lashed as tightly to you as we are.”

“They know they cannot launch a military action without our permission,” he said.

Read Full Report in Adobe PDF format

Tags: arms salearms transferscostcost of wardealswar
Previous Post

Generals look to future challenges, opportunities

Next Post

Russia to equip four Indian subs with new cruise missiles

Related Posts

EU warns Belarus opening door to Russian nukes after vote

New military bases in western Russia in response to NATO expansion: minister

May 20, 2022

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Friday that Moscow would create new military bases in western Russia in response...

NATO warns Russia readying for ‘full-scale attack’ on Ukraine

Signs multiply Russia seeks control of south Ukraine

May 20, 2022

The Kremlin said Thursday it was important to ensure basic living conditions in war-torn Ukraine as signs multiplied that Moscow...

Next Post

Russia to equip four Indian subs with new cruise missiles

Latest Defense News

EU warns Belarus opening door to Russian nukes after vote

New military bases in western Russia in response to NATO expansion: minister

May 20, 2022
NATO warns Russia readying for ‘full-scale attack’ on Ukraine

Signs multiply Russia seeks control of south Ukraine

May 20, 2022
Biden to announce anti-gun violence measures

Biden begins Asia trip in South Korea, under North nuclear shadow

May 20, 2022
Russian Army Receives More Iskander-M Tactical Ballistic Missile System

Belarus buys S-400, Iskander missiles from Russia: Lukashenko

May 20, 2022
Turkey seeks alternatives to Russian energy after warplane crisis

Erdogan urges NATO allies to ‘respect’ concerns over Finland, Sweden

May 19, 2022
North Korea

North Korea ‘ready for nuclear test’ with Biden due in Seoul

May 19, 2022

Defense Forum Discussions

  • Republic of Korea AF (ROKAF)
  • Helo Jumping with Dutch Marines
  • The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread
  • The German Bundeswehr - a "Paper Tiger?"
  • China - Geostrategic & Geopolitical.
  • NZDF General discussion thread
  • Royal Australian Navy Discussions and Updates 2.0
  • Australian Army Discussions and Updates
  • International Army News Thread
  • Royal Australian Air Force [RAAF] News, Discussions and Updates
DefenceTalk

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com

Navigate Site

  • Defence Forum
  • Military Photos
  • RSS Feeds
  • About us
  • Advertise with us
  • Contact us

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Defense News
    • Defense & Geopolitics News
    • War Conflicts News
    • Army News
    • Air Force News
    • Navy News
    • Missiles Systems News
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Defense Technology
    • Cybersecurity News
  • Military Photos
  • Defense Forum
  • Military Videos
  • Military Weapon Systems
    • Weapon Systems
    • Reports

© 2003-2020 DefenceTalk.com