The Ukraine War Is Changing the Global Arms Trade
(Baonghean.vn) - A study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute shows that France has surpassed Russia in the list of largest arms exporters. Meanwhile, the US continues to consolidate its global dominance in arms sales.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict has fueled a new wave of arms sales in Europe, with US manufacturers among the main beneficiaries, according to a new study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
From 2019 to 2023, global arms trade fell by 3.3% compared to 2014-2018 figures, but the amount of weapons imported by European countries during that period doubled compared to the previous five years.
The largest share of total arms sales to European countries came from the United States, at 55%. This figure increased by 20 percentage points compared to the previous period.
America's Global Dominance
Largely thanks to sales to European countries, the US was able to increase its arms exports by 17%. US manufacturers delivered weapons to 107 countries, more than in any other period studied by SIPRI and more than any other exporting country.
“The United States has strengthened its role as a global arms supplier – a key aspect of its foreign policy – exporting more weapons to more countries than ever before. This comes at a time when its economic and geopolitical dominance is being challenged by emerging powers,” said Mathew George, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.
It is no surprise that Ukraine is the European country with the largest increase in arms imports. From 2019 to 2023, Ukraine went from being the smallest importer and domestic producer to the fourth largest buyer of arms in the world, behind India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Its imports increased by 6,600% compared to the previous period.
In 2023, Ukraine was the world's number one arms importer. However, many of the weapons it received were supplied by its allies, not purchased by itself. The United States, Germany, and Poland were the top three suppliers to Ukraine.
Exports from Russia decline
The world's five largest arms exporters are the United States, France, Russia, China and Germany. France has overtaken Russia to take the number two spot.
Russian arms exports fell by 53%. French arms sales rose by 47%. In 2019, 31 countries were still receiving weapons from Russia. By 2023, that number had dropped to 12, with India and China, which still trade oil and gas with Russia, by far the most important customers.
“In other cases, to some extent, the US and European countries have also put pressure on countries that have previously purchased Russian weapons or are thinking about doing so,” Pieter Wezeman, one of the report's authors, told DW.
That is “something we can see very clearly in the case of Egypt, which was going to buy Russian fighter jets, then was pressured by the US not to do so and has now essentially turned to France for advanced fighter jets,” Wezeman said.
France is pursuing a policy of “strategic sovereignty,” Wezeman added. “They basically want to be able to use military force whenever they want without being dependent on other people’s weapons. So they need an arms industry, but to do that, you really need to export. Otherwise, it becomes too expensive.”
According to Wezeman, the French arms industry has been very successful over the past 10 years, with best-selling products being the Rafale fighter jet, as well as submarines and destroyers.
German submarine exports
Germany's position as the world's No. 5 arms exporter remained unchanged from 2014 to 2023, and its main customer region was the Middle East.
German arms exports fell 14% over the period, although Wezeman said the decline was only relative. The previous five years had been buoyant, thanks to a series of large orders, particularly for submarines.
In contrast, 2023 is particularly good for the German arms industry. Wezeman says that this is “partly related to military aid to Ukraine, of course, but also to the delivery of, for example, submarines to Singapore, and frigates and frigates to both Israel and Egypt.”
Unlike their European counterparts, African countries purchased about half as many foreign weapons between 2019 and 2023 as they did half a decade ago, largely due to declines in purchases from two major importers. Algeria imported 77% fewer weapons, while Morocco’s purchases fell by 46%.
Russia, with a growing presence on the continent in recent years, is the number one arms supplier to countries in Africa, followed by the US and China.
