(IntegrityPress.org) – A report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has classed the US as the world’s “most important arms supplier” as American firms continue to win lucrative contracts from customers around the world. SIPRI, which acts as an international watchdog for the production and trade of arms, released its latest yearly dataset on Sunday March 10. The data shows that not only has the US maintained a strong position on the global arms stage, but that it has in fact seen a significant uptick in exports.
Nine of the ten biggest arms importers are Asian countries, with India remaining the world’s top importer of weaponry and ammunition, and 2023 saw the US become the largest supplier to Asia and Oceania, making up over a third of the region’s imports. Meanwhile, other key players in Asia and Oceania saw their sales fall; Russia, formerly China’s chief provider, saw its exports more than halved overall between 2014 and 2023, in part due to China’s growing use of domestically sourced arms.
Notably, European demand for US armaments skyrocketed in recent years, with the 2019-2023 period seeing nearly double the number of American imports compared to the 2014-2019 period. Ukraine, which has been fighting an invasion by Russia since February 2022, topped the leaderboard for most arms imported, much of which has come from the US, in part due to increased US government spending. The White House has sent over $23 billion of arms to Ukraine, taken from Department of Defense stocks.
As many European countries have also sought to arm Ukraine and shore up their own defenses in the light of Russian military action in Ukraine, European spending with US arms firms has continued to grow. Europe buys approximately half of its weaponry from the US, and while it has ramped up its purchasing from the US, it has largely turned its back on Russia, instead seeking alternative suppliers. France’s arms exports have increased by 47%, whereas Russia’s exports have dropped by more than half between the 2014-2019 period and 2019-2023. As such, Russia is now the world’s third largest arms exporter, having dropped behind France. France takes second place while the US occupies the top spot, with its military industrial complex benefitting from increasing security concerns around the world.
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