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attaboy

Which country exports the most weapons? Take a guess.

Lorenzo

USA would be my guess

we are an export driven economy

good2bhappy

Russian federation?

attaboy

Times have changed gentlemen.

sabang

In terms of the big Defence industry manufacturers, the only major that is not American is British Aerospace. The others are Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. Then you get to the second tier Arms manufacturers.

So how could it be anyone else than the USA? Unless it is some ridiculous statistic, like the worlds largest exporter of rifles or something.

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To err is human. To blame someone else is politics.

good2bhappy

USA EU And Russia were 1,2,3 in 2007
But if you add up all Russia's "satelites"!

Ivor Biggun

Sweden ?

attaboy

Rifles kill more people than F-16s.

Norton

Arms export values in dollars. The US exports include high tech high cost systems many of which are defensive. Can't find the numbers but would think the weapons causing the most amount of death are small arms. The US is not a major exporter of small arms.



USA - $14,008m
Russia - $5,800m
UK - $3,300m
Germany - $1,000m
China - $700m
Canada - $600m
France - $400m
Netherlands - $300m
Israel - $200m
Spain - $200m
Sweden - $200m



CAAT Facts & Figures - Top Arms Exporting Countries

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Ivor Biggun

Got it. Israel per capita. NationMaster - World Statistics, Country Comparisons . What do I win ? Have a look to see is the most corrupt. Very interesting site.

Norton

Agree. Small arms are by far the biggest cause of deaths worldwide. Most of the small arms sold worldwide are done via arms dealers. Kalashnikov's seem to be the most prolific and most likely were manufactured in China or former Eastern block countries and pass through many hands, often illegally, before they are received by the end user.

attaboy

My apologies, my connection keeps dropping. I don't see Israel listed in your link, Ivor.

attaboy

Here's an article I came across.


UK becomes biggest weapons exporter
By Stephen Fidler, Defence and Security Editor

Published: June 17 2008 23:09 | Last updated: June 17 2008 23:09

Britain became the world’s largest arms exporter last year, according to government figures released on Tuesday, overtaking the US, which normally occupies the top slot.

The UK won £10bn of new defence orders in 2007 from overseas, giving it a 33 per cent share of the world export market, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Defence and Security Organisation, set up to promote Britain’s defence exports. Export orders totalled £5.5bn in 2006.

2007 figures were helped by a large order from Saudi Arabia for Typhoon aircraft, valued initially at £4.3bn. They were further aided by orders from Oman and Trinidad and Tobago for offshore patrol vessels. Orders from North America were also significant – the US imported more weapons from the UK than from any other country, the DSO said.

UK Trade and Investment, the department of which the DSO is a part, could not immediately supply data for other countries in 2007 or detailed year-on-year comparisons. However, the figures reflect arms orders – which can cluster in particular years and may or may not be completed – rather than arms deliveries, a more precise measure of exports.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which collates data on arms deliveries, the UK was the sixth largest supplier of defence equipment in 2007 – after the US, Russia, Germany, France and the Netherlands. Over a five-year period it was the fifth largest.

But according to the DSO figures, last year’s orders mean the UK has been the second largest exporter of arms over the previous five years, after the US. Cumulative exports from the US were $63bn (£32bn), the UK $53bn, Russia $33bn, France $17bn, and Germany and Israel with $9bn each.

Saudi Arabia was the largest importer over the period – $31bn, followed by India with $18bn and the US $17bn. Three countries – Australia ($11bn), Canada ($10bn) and Pakistan ($6bn) – moved up the import rankings, it said.

Lord Jones, trade and investment minister, said: “As demonstrated by this outstanding export performance, the UK has a first class defence industry with some of the world’s most technologically sophisticated companies.”

Ian Godden, chief executive of the Society of British Aerospace Companies, said: “We are proud that the UK defence industry remains a world leader. This success is built on investment made in the 1990s and, if we are to continue to reap these economic benefits in the future, this investment will need to be maintained.”

The DSO is the successor to the Defence Export Services Organisation, which was moved by the government out of the Ministry of Defence last year following alleged arms export scandals. Its new head, Richard Paniguian, is a former senior BP executive who had been involved in developing a code of conduct for extractive industries.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 20

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As a kid I always thought my nickname was "attaboy" until I realized they were rooting for the dog: "Attaboy, get 'em! Get 'em!".

good2bhappy

putting the "great" back in Britian. well done New Labour?

sabang

Is this is going to be one of those "Lies, damned Lies, and Statistics" threads.
Deaths by gunshot include suicide, accidental and crime- nothing to do with War.

Will the unspoken assumption be to therfore pontificate that it is acceptable to export cluster bombs and land mines, because more people are killed by gunshot wounds? I wonder.

attaboy

From the article:

They may be jumping the gun a bit. Err... make that popping the corks

sabang

Very interesting.

I'm not going to make myself popular with the US citizenry though by pointing out the fact that the US supplies more arms to Israel than anyone else in most years, and the bulk of this is hidden in the 'Foreign aid' budget- it does not appear as an Export.

The UK has always been a massive arms trader, seems like they had a very "good " year in 2007. At least they are going to stop the export of cluster munitions- or so they say.

attaboy

It appears as though a large order by the Saudis pulled the UK ahead. Roll teh UK sales into EU sales and the USA is an also ran.

Norton

The correlation between these two questions is almost impossible to resolve.

Further when $ comparisons are done it doesn't take into account the relative cost of each weapon. A fighter plane purchased from the US or EU can be 4 to 5 times the cost of one purchased elsewhere.

sabang

^^ The US an Arms 'also ran'- No way! The statistics for Arms export are deliberately obfuscated- Israel being the obvious example. Thus Us will, say, place a large order with Boeing, that is sent to israel under the Foreign aid budget. This appears as a domestic order for Boeing, although it is really an Export. The UK, France etc are just as guilty of this also, if to a smaller extent.

Arms sales are also an instrument of foreign policy.