From Draft NOtices, April-June 2012
The top 100 global sellers of arms (including sales of military services) maintained their upward trend in 2010, although the increase of one percent was slower than in 2009. This is according to a February 27, 2012, news release from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which monitors the arms industry and maintains several databases on military spending and related issues.
Total sales of the top 100 companies in 2010 reached $411.1 billion. Sales by the 44 U.S. companies in the top 100 accounted for 60 percent of all arms sales. Thirty companies based in Western Europe accounted for a further 29 percent.
According to SIPRI, the increased sales in 2010 illustrate how the arms industry is shielded from immediate, drastic financial threats.
“The data for 2010 demonstrates, once again, the major players’ ability to continue selling arms and military services despite the financial crises currently affecting other industries,” states SIPRI arms industry expert Dr. Susan Jackson. “To take one example, OshKosh Corporation had a 156 percent increase in arms sales in 2010 after winning the M-ATV (MRAP all-terrain vehicles) contract. In other cases, change is likely, not due to the financial crisis but rather because of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and the subsequent expected decrease in related equipment sales.”
Information source: http://www.sipri.org
This article is from Draft NOtices, the newsletter of the Committee Opposed to Militarism and the Draft (http://www.comdsd.org/)
