Arms trade
Arms trade is the exchange of arms or weapons among two or more parties, generally but not exclusively sovereign nations.
It is estimated that yearly over 150 billion dollars is spent on arms.
Top 15 arms exporters in 1999
- United States, $33 billion
- United Kingdom, $5.2 billion
- Russia, $3.1 billion
- France, $2.9 billion
- Germany, $1.9 billion
- Sweden, $0.7 billion
- Israel, $0.6 billion
- Australia, $0.6 billion
- Canada, $0.6 billion
- Ukraine, $0.6 billion
- Italy, $0.4 billion
- People's Republic of China, $0.3 billion
- Belarus, $0.3 billion
- Bulgaria, $0.2 billion
- North Korea, $0.1 billion
source: Federation of American Scientists, [1]
Amnesty International, Oxfam, and the International Network on Small Arms say that roughly 500,000 people are killed each year by the use of small arms, and that there are over 600 million of such arms in circulation.
United States arms trade
In the US there is a distinction made between foreign military sales (FMS), where the Pentagon is used as an intermediate negotiator, and direct commercial sales (DCS), where a company directly negotiates with its buyer, in which case the company needs a license from the State Department.
The Defense Department manages the excess defense articles (EDA), weapons from the US military given away or sold at bargain prices, emergency drawdowns, assistance provided at the discretion of the President, and international military education and training (IMET).
In the period from 1989 to 1996 the global value of direct commercial arms sales was US$ 257 million, of which 45% was exported from the US.
International military education and training
In fiscal year 2002 a total of 70 million US$ was spent on IMET, spread over 113 countries.
In fiscal year 2002 a total of 46 million US$ worth of drawdowns were provided to Nigeria (4 million US$), Afghanistan (2 million US$), Georgia (25 million US$), the Philippines (10 million US$) and Tunisia (5 million US$).
Defense contractors are weapon manufacturers or companies participating in weapon research and warfare simulation.
See also private military contractor.
List of weapon manufacturers
Institutes participating in weapon research and warfare simulation
Related topics
External links
Referenced By
Arms sales to Iraq 1973-1990 | Buying | Consumerium | Defence (military) | Defense (military) | Ethical purchasing | History of trade | List of military topics | Military equipment | Military technology | Moral purchasing | Trade | Weapon | Weapons
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