Asia Times

Central Asia

Russia now the world's leading arms exporter
By Sergei Blagov

MOSCOW - Russian arms exports have reached a record high to make it the largest exporter of weapons in the world.

Russian arms exports account for 12 percent of the world trade in weapons, said Yuri Khozyainov, deputy chairman of Russia's state committee on military technical cooperation, a government arms export regulator. Underdeveloped countries comprise Russia's largest client base.

Russia surpassed the US as the biggest exporter of weapons last year, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Russia exported US$4.97 billion worth of arms last year compared to $4.56 billion worth of arms sold by the US, SIPRI said.

Khozyainov is currently seeing "propaganda campaigns to discredit Russian arms as well as political and economic pressures to force developing countries not to import Russian armaments." But Russia is determined, he said, to fight these "dirty tricks" and keep up its lucrative weapons sales.

This year India could replace China as Russia's top client, Khozyainov said. India has equipped almost two-thirds of its armed forces with Russian hardware. India has also bought weapons worth $3.5 billion from Russia between 1990 and 1996. New agreements cover a sale of Russian weapons to India worth another $4 billion over the next three years. As tensions between India and Pakistan run high, India is looking for new weapons, which Russia is keen to supply.

At the same time, China continues to buy huge amounts of Russian-made weapons. According to recent reports China is negotiating purchase of eight submarines in a $1.6 billion deal. Russia has also agreed to build two more destroyers for the Chinese navy at an estimated $1.4 billion.

Several allies of the Cold War era are now looking to help from Russia to modernize their armies. Almost all weapons used by the Vietnamese and the North Korean military are now obsolete. In recent years Vietnam has bought 12 fighter planes from Russia for about $300 million total.

The North Korean military has about 2,300 Russian-made tanks, 10,000 pieces of artillery, 50 ships and 23 submarines which need to be modernized. North Korean defense minister Vice-Marshal Kim Il-Chol visited Moscow last year to sign an agreement on defense cooperation with Russia.

In October last year Iranian defense minister Ali Shamkhani visited Russia to sign a framework agreement on military cooperation and for supply of Russian weapons worth about $400 million a year.

(Inter Press Service)

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