Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Boeing's Advanced Tactical Laser System
Times may be bad for car and home sales, as well as numerous other industries, but the economic troubles plaguing so much of the business world has had no effect on either war or “peace” operations. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, military spending across the world went up 4% in 2008, reaching a record total of $1.46 trillion. Since 1999, arms sales have gone up 45%.
Of the top 100 leading defense contractors (which sold a combined $347 billion in 2007), almost all were American or European, with U.S. companies responsible for just over 60% of sales. The single largest defense contractor continues to be Boeing, which sold $30.5 billion in arms in 2007, followed by the UK’s BAE Systems ($29.9 billion), and Lockheed Martin ($29.4 billion).
The U.S. not only was the biggest supplier of military hardware, but also the biggest buyer, accounting for 58% of the total global spending increase during the decade. But Russia and China are catching up.
The rise in arms sales was a result of not just military campaigns like those in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also peacekeeping operations, such as those happening in Darfur and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Spending on military equipment by peacekeeping efforts has risen 11%.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Military Spending Sets New Record (by Jorn Madslien, BBC News)
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Yearbook 2009
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