Russia arms sales overtake UK, second behind US — watchdog

New recruits for the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) perform a drill in Berengo on August 4, 2018. Russian military consultants have set up training for the Central African Armed Forces and the Internal Security Forces after delivering weapons to the country. AFP

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Russia has overtaken Britain to become the world’s second biggest arms producer behind the United States, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in a report published on Monday.

“Russian companies have experienced significant growth in their arms sales since 2011,” Sipri senior researcher Siemon Wezeman said in a statement.

“This is in line with Russia’s increased spending on arms procurement to modernize its armed forces.”

Russia had 10 companies on Sipri’s list of the world’s “Top 100” arms-producing and military services companies in 2017, accounting for 9.5 percent of sales. The 10 companies’ sales totaled $37.7 billion ($33 billion euros), Sipri said.

That put Russia in second place, a position that had been held by Britain since 2002.

The United States topped the list with 42 companies and sales up by two percent to $226.6 billion — accounting for 57 percent of the Top 100’s arms sales.

“US companies directly benefit from the US Department of Defense’s ongoing demand for weapons,” said Aude Fleurant, the director of Sipri’s Arms and Military Expenditure Program.

US company Lockheed Martin remained the world’s largest arms producer in 2017, with sales of $44.9 billion, the think tank said.

For the first time, a Russian company appeared in the list of the top 10 arms producers: Almaz-Antey, which increased its sales by 17 percent in 2017 to $8.6 billion.

Meanwhile, Britain, the largest arms producer in Western Europe, fell to third position, with sales of $35.7 billion. BAE Systems is ranked the fourth-biggest company in Sipri’s Top 100 list.

The institute also noted that sales by Turkish companies rose by 24 percent in 2017, reflecting Ankara’s “ambitions to develop its arms industry to fulfil its growing demand for weapons and become less dependent on foreign suppliers,” another Sipri researcher, Pieter Wezeman, said.

The figures exclude China, for which figures are not available, Sipri noted. /cbb