20 Percent Increase In Russian Arms Sale In 2013: Report

Russian companies saw 20 percent increase in arms sales in FY 2013 compared with their US and Western counterparts, according to the report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Siemon Wezeman, senior researcher with SIPRI's Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, said "the remarkable increases" in Russian companies arms sales in both 2012 and 2013 are in large part due to uninterrupted investments in military procurement by the Russian government during the 2000s.

But these gains, however, were registered long before the Russian intervention in Ukraine and Crimea last February.

Over top 100 arms producing companies racked up 402 billion dollars in weapons sales and military services in 2013, the report figures says. But arms sale declined by 2 percent over the previous year, and in the third consecutive year by these defence contractors.

"These investments are explicitly intended to modernise national production capabilities and weapons in order to bring them on par with major U.S. and Western European arms producers capabilities and technologies," Wezeman told IPS.

However, with economic and military sanctions imposed by the United States and Western Europe against Moscow this year, there is a possibility that Russian arms sales, particularly exports, may suffer when new figures are released for 2014.
The sanctions will not have a great effect on the short term, but the Russian industry may feel them if the sanctions stay in place for some years, he added.

According to SIPRI figures, sales by Italian and Spanish arms-producing companies continuing to decline, with French companies increasing their sales, while sales by British companies remained stable.

The share of global arms sales for companies outside North America and Western Europe has been increasing since 2005, Dr. Aude Fleurant, director of SIPRI's Arms and Military Expenditure Programme said.

The Russian company with the largest increase in sales in 2013 is Tactical Missiles Corporation, with a growth of 118 per cent, followed by Almaz-Antey (34 per cent) and United Aircraft Corporation (20 per cent), according to the report. Almaz-Anteys arms sales in 2013 make it the 12th-largest arms producer (excluding China).

But, the US sanctions has killed the negotiating talks with European companies on cooperation in wheeled armoured vehicles, jet engines and avionics.

"That leaves Russia in the position it was before - not having all the technology and not having the funds or the expertise to develop it all on its own," Wezeman said. He said sanctions have also put pressure on production and development of Russian weapons for export.

Now with India and China defying US and Western sanctions, Russia now finds it even more important to look for partners in large markets in Asia, including joint technology agreements in the development of new weapons.