Arms trade is the exchange of arms (weapons) among two or more parties, generally but not exclusively sovereign nations.

It is estimated that yearly over 150 billion dollars is spent on arms.

Table of contents
1 Top 15 arms exporters in 1999
2 United States arms trade
3 List of weapon manufacturers
4 Institutes participating in weapon research and warfare simulation
5 Related topics
6 External links

Top 15 arms exporters in 1999

source: Federation of American Scientists, [1]

Amnesty International, Oxfam, and the International Network on Small Arms say that roughly 500,000 people are killed each year by the use of small arms, and that there are over 600 million of such arms in circulation.

United States arms trade

In the US there is a distinction made between foreign military sales (FMS), where the Pentagon is used as an intermediate negotiator, and direct commercial sales (DCS), where a company directly negotiates with its buyer, in which case the company needs a license from the State Department. The Defense Department manages the excess defense articles (EDA), weapons from the US military given away or sold at bargain prices, emergency drawdowns, assistance provided at the discretion of the President, and international military education and training (IMET).

In the period from 1989 to 1996 the global value of direct commercial arms sales was US$ 257 million, of which 45% was exported from the US.

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International military education and training

In fiscal year 2002 a total of 70 million US$ was spent on IMET, spread over 113 countries.

In fiscal year 2002 a total of 46 million US$ worth of drawdowns were provided to Nigeria (4 million US$), Afghanistan (2 million US$), Georgia (25 million US$), the Philippines (10 million US$) and Tunisia (5 million US$).

Defense contractors are weapon manufacturers or companies participating in weapon research and warfare simulation.

See also private military contractor.

List of weapon manufacturers

Institutes participating in weapon research and warfare simulation

Related topics

External links