Despite the recession that has reduced sales of arms globally, the U.S. has expanded its role as the world’s leading weapons supplier, increasing its share to more than two-thirds of all foreign armaments deals, according to a Congressional study. The U.S. signed weapons agreements valued at $37.8 billion in 2008, or 68.4 percent of all business, up significantly from American sales of $25.4 billion the year before. Italy was a distant second, with $3.7 billion in worldwide weapons sales in 2008, while Russia was third with $3.5 billion in arms sales last year — down considerably from the $10.8 billion in weapons deals signed by Moscow in 2007, said the New York Times. The value of global arms sales in 2008 was $55.2 billion, a drop of 7.6 percent from 2007 and the lowest total for international weapons agreements since 2005. The increase in American 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 U.S. 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. The overall decline in weapons sales worldwide in 2008 can be explained by the reluctance of many nations to place new arms orders “in the face of the severe international recession,” wrote Richard F. Grimmett, a specialist in international security at the Congressional Research Service and author of the study.
U.S. Role as Leading Arms Supplier Grows
The U.S. signed weapons agreements valued at $37.8 billion in 2008, or 68.4 percent of all business, up significantly from American sales of $25.4 billion the year before.
September 7, 2009