Daily Times

The world is facing a formidable challenge of the international arms trade that needs to be drastically reduced. It can eliminate the weapons and forge arms-control regimes. The international weapons trade is believed to be morally wearisome and some argue that trade is essential in a dangerous world.

The current picture depicts eruptive and disruptive scenarios, the international arms control and the non-proliferation regime have brought new security challenges, and the enormous growth of arms race and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction have posed greater threats to humankind.

The Arms industry popularly known as the defense industry. The arms sales are the main source and strategically an important sector of the global economy. This is essentially a global industry that manufactures and sells weapons and military technology around the world.

Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has released an exclusive report in Dec2019 about sales of arms worldwide. SIPRI is an independent international institute, established in 1966 engaged in research into the realm of conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. It provides insight into data, analysis, and recommendations. The report reveals that the United States of America has dominated the market position as it is accounted for 59% of the market turnover of the global arms industry. It is worth mentioning that seventy companies are based in the USA and Europe and they account for 83 percent of total Top 100 arms sales.

We often come across the triumph of capitalism over communism – the main mechanism of the modern market economy. Some label it a deplorable badge of shame and humiliation, either way, five US companies are listed among the world’s largest arms producers. The over-production and exports of arms are the hallmarks of this system, where arms industries are operating freely in capitalist economies.

The report disclosed that the profit accrued from 100 biggest arms manufacturers has risen to USD 420 billion in 2018 and the US arms market has increased by 7.2 percent, which is about USD 246 billion. According to Experts, this has happened because the Trump administration concluded a rule change for arms manufacturers. The picture of the global arms sales of companies reflects total arms sales totaled $420 billion in 2018, up 4.6% from 2017, according to the SIPRI. U.S. based companies again dominate SIPRI’s list of top global arms manufacturers and military service providers. With Congress passing its record-high $738 billion defense-spending bill in December 2019, which includes military modernization and a new Space Force military branch, the trend is likely to continue.

The arms sales are the main source and strategically an important sector of the global economy. This is essentially a global industry that manufactures and sells weapons and military technology around the world

24/7 Wall St. made an objective review of the data provided by SIPRI to identify the companies profiting and benefiting considerably from war. 24/7 Wall St., LLC is a Delaware based corporation that engages in dissemination of financial news and opinion formulation including the internet. The companies are exclusively engaged in the sales of Arms and military services, were ranked based on SIPRI’s estimates in 2018. Chinese companies were not in the race of the top 100 firms due to a lack of adequate data, consequently hard to make a reliable estimate. The data pertaining to the Arms Industry Database disclose the sales of arms and military services by companies listed in the Top 100 (the SIPRI Top 100). They are the largest arms-producing and military services companies. It represents the global gross income from arms sales of the 100 largest companies in the sector. Profits earned for the latest fiscal year derived from financial reports and corporate press releases.

The United States of America is one of the largest weapons exporter, a leading position being maintained since the late 1990s. It occupies the centerpiece among the world’s 10 largest defense contractors and also contributes to 43 of the top 100 defense companies. These US companies accounted for 59% of the total global arms market by the top 100 largest defense contractors in 2018 – registered an increase of 7.2%.

Russian defense industry occupies an important place in the global arms market. Russian Federation is the significant player and the second-largest conventional arms exporter after the USA. This is the first occasion; a Russian company appeared in the top 10 list.

American firms are the leading global arms trader and by far the undisputed leader among the top 100 largest defense producers of the world’s weapons. The US military necessitates a high degree of preparedness from future conflicts and weapons modernization. Aude Fleurant, Director, and researcher of SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Program has plainly stated, “US companies are preparing for the new arms modernization program that was announced in 2017 by President Trump”.

Large U.S. companies have been developing and producing state-of-the-art weapons systems by employing their own technologies. The United States by far has assembled a large and sophisticated arsenal and delivery system. Modernization is one of the great pillars of U.S. military prowess, is an integral part of transitioning to a new generation of capabilities. The capability increases the bargaining power of the US Government. In 2017, President Trump increased the size of the defense budget to $716 billion, and modernization efforts include the establishment of a sixth armed service for space. Defense budget authorized of $738 billion for the fiscal year 2020, this is a $21 billion colossal surge over what Congress enacted for fiscal 2019.

Over the past decade, a significant gap still exists between the U.S. and Russia, as the world’s leading arms suppliers. This gap has more widened, the U.S. market share increased from 30 percent to 36 percent, while Russia’s arms share shrank by nearly one-fifth. China is a leading country, is ranked fifth in the race, and its contribution to the market is merely 5.5 percent.

SIPRI Report highlights that China has spent 1.9% of its GDP (Gross Domestic Product) on defense every year since 2013.

n US arms manufacturers accounted for 59 percent of the market share which is USD 246 billion of profit.

n Russia appeared second on the list of arms production while the UK was third in the rankings with 8.6 percent and 8.4 percent of shares respectively.

n Lockheed Martin Corporation, Boeing and Northrop Grumman Corporation are on the first, second and third positions respectively.

The story of the arms race isn’t complete without India and Israel. Both have developed weapons of mass destruction, maintains a nuclear force and the strategy of proliferation aims to develop the indigenous capability to produce nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, they can be used in ways that are highly deadly.

According to Stockholm-based think-tank that tracks the weapons industry, three Indian companies who are among the world’s 100 top arms suppliers stood at $5.9 billion in 2018. The figure has declined by 6.9% compared to the previous year. It indicates the sales dropped during the one-year period because of fewer orders from the Indian armed forces. The three firms include Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the Indian Ordnance Factories and Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), their global rankings were stood at 38, 56 and 62 respectively, and their contribution is 1.4% of the arms sales of the top 100 companies. These are all three state-owned enterprises and the sector requirements much dependent on domestic demand.

Arms turnover of two Indian companies, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited – an increase in the market for the year 2018 – by 3.5% and 5.9%, respectively. The report also disclosed that the market was offset by a 27% fall in the arms sale of Indian Ordnance Factories.

Total arms sales of $8.7 billion, three companies based in Israel for 2018 accounted for a 2.1 percent increase in its arms sales. Elbit Systems, Israel Aerospace Industries, and Rafael, their ranking stood at 28, 39, and 44 respectively.

India is recognized as the world’s largest arms importer for decades, the top arms suppliers are Russia, the US, Israel, the United Kingdom (UK) and France. Interestingly, Israel has remained among the top arms exporter to India from 1999 to 2018.

Bear Braumoeller – Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University, is the author of “Only the Dead: The Persistence of War in the Modern Age” has made an analysis of the last 200 years of international conflict. Braumoeller believed that war is not declining and the popular perception that war is disappearing has lulled all of us into a false sense of security. And he finds no substantiating evidence for a long-term reduction in the wars. Even more alarming, Braumoeller ascertains the probability that a small war can turn into a very big, hasn’t changed, either. If human beings continue to fight 50 wars per century, the probability of seeing a war with battle deaths that exceed one percent of the global population in the next hundred years is about 13 percent, it would amount to at least 70 million people killed. He urged, “nothing short of horrifying. The escalatory propensity of war is the scariest thing found in the research”.

The Americans are still assessing what was gained from fighting two drawn-out conflicts, and the troops are thinking a new war is coming soon. The preparations are underway for the big one – that might be World War III, or so to say the worst.

The world is witnessing India and Israel continue their military might and both territories Kashmir and the Palestine conflicts in South Asia and the Middle East respectively, have been the flashpoints, remain the most militarized zones in the world.

Russia is more focused on the Middle East, the world’s second-largest and emerging arms market as it strengthens its share by more exports in the region.

The Gulf region appears to be an epicenter of the coming wars. The current situation in the Middle East is an explosive, alarming threat of the proliferation of weapons and with the high potential for violence, the region is moving to yet another flashpoint.

The balance of power among global players needs to maintain, it might hurt the economic interests of them and it requires to end foreign military support in the Gulf region, which has practically become an existential threat.

The world has become a regular warzone, human lives have increasingly become a violent and miserable thing and exposed to trauma such as violence, destruction, and a dangerous place to exist. The people have grown up in a war zone and they have accepted the brunt of the arms race, and still are living in situations of high violence risks. The people are in constant need to reduce the probability of war, or reduce destruction in the event of war and save the beautiful face of the earth.

The writer is a freelancer