The US is increasing its share of the global arms export market. Russia's indicators are decreasing. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) experts came to this conclusion. According to SIPRI's estimates, Russia is no longer the second largest arms exporter after the United States. For the first time, France has left our northern neighbor behind in this matter. However, Russia claims that the demand for military products has not decreased.
SIPRI's report on the global arms and military equipment export market was published on Monday. The Russian "Kommersant" newspaper, which got acquainted with the report, writes that the institution in question traditionally makes such opinions public in March, comparing the last five years with the previous one. According to experts, the comparison of data from these two periods allows to more clearly identify trends observed in this field and prevent coincidences. This time they compared the years 2019-2023 with the years 2014-2018.
Studies have shown that the United States has remained the leader in arms exports during this decade. In addition, Washington was able to increase its market share from 34 percent to 42 percent. In terms of quantity, the supply of weapons from the United States increased by 17 percent. From 2019 to 2023, the United States delivered weapons to 107 countries, more than in the previous five-year period and many times more than any other arms exporter. "The US has strengthened its global role as an arms supplier by exporting weapons to more countries than ever before, and this is an important aspect of its foreign policy," says Matthew George, director of SIPRI's arms transfer program.

The top three importers of US weapons in 2019-2023 were Saudi Arabia, Japan and Qatar. At the same time, during this period, 28 percent of American weapons were delivered to Europe, which is 17 percent more than in the previous five-year period. A significant part of US arms exports is combat aircraft. According to SIPRI's calculations, in 2019-2023, the United States delivered 420 combat aircraft abroad, of which 249 were F-35 fighters. This aircraft was sold to a total of 10 countries and accounted for 24 percent of total US arms exports. For the coming years, the United States has an order for 1,071 more combat aircraft (785 of which are F-35s).
The report notes that between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, French arms exports increased by 47 percent, and for the first time Paris became the second-largest arms exporter, "just ahead of Russia." The largest share of France's arms exports (42 percent) went to countries in Asia and Oceania, and the other 34 percent went to countries in the Middle East. India was the largest importer of French arms, accounting for about 30 percent. The growth of Paris's arms exports was mainly due to the supply of fighter jets (primarily Dassault Rafale fighters) to India, Qatar and Egypt. In total, France sells weapons to 66 countries.
According to SIPRI, between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, Russian arms exports decreased by 53 percent.

The report noted that the decline has accelerated especially in the last five years. In 2019, Russia exported weapons to 31 countries, but in 2023, only 12 countries bought weapons from our northern neighbor. 68 percent of the total volume of Russian arms exports fell to the countries of Asia and Oceania. According to SIPRI, "The low volume of major arms deliveries expected from Russia indicates that the level of Russian arms exports, at least in the near term, will remain significantly below the level achieved in 2014-2018". However, Kommersant newspaper noted. states that not all information on Russian arms contracts is published, and SIPRI's statistics are compiled only on the basis of information obtained from open sources.
The fourth and fifth largest arms exporters in the world are China and Germany, respectively. Their performance in the last five years has also decreased. According to SIPRI's calculations, a total of 66 countries export major types of weapons. Overall, the global volume of international supplies of arms and military equipment decreased by 3.3 percent during the review period.

At the same time, the import of major types of weapons by European countries has doubled (94 percent). This trend is mainly due to the sharp increase in arms imports from Ukraine, which is supplied with arms by 30 countries of the world. The United States ranks first, Germany ranks second, and Poland ranks third in supplying weapons to Kiev. As a result, Ukraine became the fourth largest arms importer in the world after India, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Pakistan closes the top five among the world's largest arms importers. Besides Ukraine, the top five arms importers in Europe include Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway and Poland. The main supplier of weapons to these countries is the United States.
Dmitry Shugayev, the head of the federal service for military-technical cooperation, assured journalists last year that "Russia will not be removed from the international arms market." According to him, today Russia's military industry is working very efficiently, Russia has many products to offer. Dmitri Shugayev claimed that "Despite Russia's attempts to put pressure on its partners and discredit Russia, the demand for the country's military products does not decrease."
Prepared:
S. ELAY
XQ