U.S. Arms Sales To Asia Set To Boom

Analysis: U.S. Arms Sales To Asia Set To Boom On Pacific "Pivot" -- Jim Wolf, Reuters

U.S. sales of warplanes, anti-missile systems and other costly weapons to China's and North Korea's neighbors appear set for significant growth amid regional security jitters.

Strengthening treaty allies and other security partners is central to the White House's "pivot" toward a Pacific region jolted by maritime territorial disputes in China's case, and missile and nuclear programs, in North Korea's.

The pivot "will result in growing opportunities for our industry to help equip our friends," said Fred Downey, vice president for national security at the Aerospace Industries Association, a trade group that includes top U.S. arms makers.

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My Comment: It has always been like this .... when the U.S. defense budget is cut, time to look for markets overseas. Fortunately for America's defense contractors .... China and North Korea are making it easy for them to sell their goods to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines, etc..

Russia Is The World's Second Largest Arms Exporter

Russian Weapons Popular In The World In 2012 -- Space Daily/Voice of Russia

In 2012, Russia concluded contracts on selling weapons for the total sum of $ 15 bln. Russian weapons are still popular in the world, much to the envy of some Western weapon producers.

Today, the position of a country on the world market of weapons is evidence of the development of science and technology in this country.

From this point of view, Russia's position today is much better than it was in the 1990s, when the military industry in Russia was experiencing a crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

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My Comment: This trend will probably continue. Russian arms are cheaper than American weapon systems, and the world is certainly not becoming a safer place.

Russia's Growing Arms Trade

Russian Arms Sales at $14 Bln in 2012. © RIA Novosti. Mikhail Klimentiev

Putin’s Arms Dealers Are Selling More Weapons to More Dirtbags Than Ever -- Danger Room

Vladimir Putin wants to build a big friggin’ army. But to pay for it, the Russian president has expanded the amount of Russian weapons sold around the globe, and he isn’t being all that discriminating about who he sells them to.

“Let’s talk about our results — they are positive,” Putin said on Monday while meeting with officials. “We are reaching a record level of weapons exports. Their total volume was above $14 billion.” That would be the highest ever for Moscow.

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More News On Russia's Growing Export Market In Arms Sales

Russian Arms Sales at $14 Bln in 2012 -- RIA Novosti
Russia military exports reached record $14bn in 2012 -- RT
Putin touts record Russian arms sales of $14 billion in 2012 -- Reuters
Russian arms sales hit $14B -- UPI
Russia Exports $14B in 2012 Arms Sales -- Ares/Aviation Week

The Booming German Arms Trade

‘Secret’ Arms Deals Provoke Germans -- International Herald Tribune

LONDON — There is at least one European export sector that continues to find a ready market around the world — weapons.

In the week in which the European Union received the Nobel Prize for Peace in Oslo, protestors in the Norwegian capital were not alone in pointing out the irony that its member states account for a third of global arms exports.

It is an irony that has a particular resonance in Germany right now, where the government’s decisions on a series of weapons deals have created unease among parliamentarians who complain they were kept in the dark.

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My Comment: Billions of Euros and tens of thousands of jobs are at stake (plus national security by keeping your industries busy) .... bottom line .... the Germans are not going to change policy.

Update: More on Germany's "risky" arms exports can be read here.

Citing Corruption, Iraq Scraps $4.2 Billion Arms Deal

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) meets with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in his Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow October 10, 2012. REUTERS/Kirril Kudryavtsev/Pool

Iraq Cancels $4.2bn Russian Arms Deal Over 'Corruption' -- BBC

Iraq has cancelled a $4.2bn (£2.6bn) deal to buy arms from Russia because of concerns about "corruption", an Iraqi government advisor has said.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has suspicions about corruption within his own team, his spokesman told the BBC.

The purchase - said to include attack helicopters and missiles - was only signed off in October.

Iraq has been rebuilding its armed forces since the end of US-led combat operations against insurgents.

One Russian military expert has suggested that the Iraqi authorities scuppered the Russian arms deal under pressure from Washington.

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More News On Iraq Canceling A $4.2bn Russian Arms Deal Over 'Corruption'

Iraq: $4.2 Bln Russian Arms Deal ‘Canceled’ -- RIA Novosti
Iraq Rethinks Russian Arms Deal -- Voice of America
Iraq cancels new arms deal with Russia -- CNN
Iraq scraps $4.2 bln Russian arms deal, cites graft -- Reuters
Iraq cancels $4.2bn Russia arms deal -- International News
Iraq cancels $4.2 bln Russian arms deal over suspected graft -- The Daily Star
Iraq scraps $4.2 billion arms deal with Russia -- Deutsche Welle

My Comment: Corruption in Russia and Iraq ..... say it ain't so.

The Politics Of Arms Sales

Arms Sales, Politics and “Frankenforces” -- Dr. Robert Farley, The Diplomat

One of the many ways in which the East Asian balance of power does not resemble the “classic” Cold War is in the structure of the arms trade. During the Cold War Soviet arms dominated the Eastern European market, as well as the markets of politically connected Soviet client states in the Middle East and Africa. Western supply was more varied, with the United States occupying a central position but French, British, German, and other arms suppliers sometime vying for the same customers as the Soviets (especially in the Middle East). Nevertheless, in the Cold War a commitment to an arms supplier often implied a geostrategic commitment to one superpower.

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My Comment: So .... the arms trade and international politics walk hand in hand .... why does this not surprise me.

Iraq Signs Massive Military Deal With Russia

Mi-28 attack helicopter. © RIA Novosti. Sergey Venyavsky

Iraq PM Confirms $4 Bln Arms Deal With Russia -- RIA Novosti

Russia will deliver attack helicopters and mobile air-defense systems to Iraq in arms deals worth $4.2 billion signed earlier this year, it was disclosed today during a visit to Moscow by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in which he met his counterpart Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Moscow will supply 30 Mil Mi-28NE night/all-weather capable attack helicopters, and 50 Pantsir-S1 gun-missile short-range air defense systems. The contracts, among the biggest ever signed between Iraq and Russia, were signed in April, July and August by Iraq's acting defense minister, according to documents released on Tuesday during al-Maliki's visit.

Vedomosti daily said the deal was Russia's largest arms deal since 2006.

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More News On Today's Russia - Iraq Arms Deal

Russia, Iraq agree to $4.3-billion military hardware deal -- RT
Iraq lands major weapons deal with Russia -- UPI
Iraq buys $4.2 billion in Russian weapons - document -- Reuters
Russia gets $4.2B arms deals with Iraq -- Salt Lake Tribune/Bloomberg
Russia seals $US4.2bn Iran arms deal -- SKY News
Russia to become Iraq's second-biggest arms supplier -- BBC
Iraq, Russia Sign Multi-Billion Dollar Arms Contracts -- Voice of America
Iraq to buy $4.2 billion worth of Russian weps -- Voice of Russia

My Comment: This deal will probably be the first of many.

The Fading U.S. Weapons Industry

Outgunned: assembling Rafale fighter jets near Bordeaux, France. (Reuters / Regis Duvignan)

Arms Away: How Washington Squandered Its Monopoly on Weapons Sales -- Jonathan Caverley and Ethan B. Kapstein, Foreign Affairs

Over the last two decades, the United States has enjoyed an unrivaled competitive advantage in the production and export of advanced conventional weaponry. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the breakup of the Warsaw Pact led to sharp reductions in Russian defense spending and a drop in Moscow's arms transfers to regional allies. Simultaneously, globalization rewarded firms with economies of scale, allowing U.S. defense contractors to capitalize on their size and on large orders from armed forces around the globe. The formula for success was simple: by producing a range of affordable yet sophisticated weapons, the Pentagon and its contractors would crush any rivals. Domination of the global arms trade, and the economic and geopolitical benefits that came with it, was the United States' to lose.

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My Comment: These writers rip into the F-35 program .... and for good cause. There is a lot of "red-meat" in this article as well as some astounding revelations .... if you are a subscriber to Foreign Affairs, read it all.