by PriorPride
Saudi Arabia has significantly increased its military spending since the beginning of its offensive in Yemen in 2015. The United States was Riyadh’s main supplier between 2015 and 2017, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Canada.
Arms sales are doing well. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) published on Monday 10 December a report on the state of the sector for the year 2017. Five key figures emerge from this.
350 billion In euros, this is the turnover of the top 100 major arms producing companies. This figure is up 2.5% compared to 2016 (€343 billion) and 44% compared to 2002 (€244 billion).
57% This is the share of US producers in total arms sales in 2017. In the top 100 of the largest arms trading companies, Sipri lists 42 American companies with a total of $226.6 billion (€199.87 billion). In short, the United States dominates the arms sales sector to a very large extent. The world’s leading manufacturer, the American Lockheed Martin, accumulated $44.9 billion in revenues (€39.6 billion) in 2017. 2nd This is Russia’s position in the ranking of the main arms trading countries. It has taken over the position occupied by Great Britain since 2002, now in third place. In figures, Russian companies accounted for 9.5% of the sales of the world’s 100 largest producers in 2017, with a turnover of $37.7 billion.
33 billion This is an increase of 8.5% compared to 2016. This result is not a surprise. According to researcher Siemon Wezeman, “Russian companies have seen significant growth in their arms sales since 2011”.
6 This is the number of French companies that appear in the top 100 weapons producers. In detail, and in order, they are Thales, Naval Group, Safran, CEA, Dassault Aviation and Nexter. The most significant French growth is that of Dassault Aviation: the group’s sales exploded by 48% in 2017, thanks in particular to the sale of Rafale in India. Not to mention the sale in Qatar of 12 Rafale and 490 VBCI armoured vehicles from Nexter. France remains 4th in the ranking of the most important arms trading countries.
61.21 billion In euros, this is Saudi Arabia’s military expenditure in 2017, making it the world’s largest importer of arms. That is the equivalent of Uruguay’s gross domestic product, twice that of Latvia or three times that of Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia has significantly increased its military spending since the beginning of its offensive in Yemen in 2015. The United States was Riyadh’s main supplier between 2015 and 2017, followed by the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Canada.
Source is Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.I think you can find the article here:www.sipri.org/commentary/topical-backgrounder/2018/saudi-arabia-armaments-and-conflict-middle-east