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October 29th, 2006 - Russia Led
Arms Sales to Developing World in ’05 |
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Russia Led Arms Sales to
Developing World in ’05 By Thom Shanker New York Times October 29, 2006 Washington, Oct. 28 - Russia
surpassed the United States in 2005 as the leader in weapons deals with the
developing world, and its new agreements included selling $700 million in
surface-to-air missiles to Iran and eight new aerial refueling tankers to
China, according to a new Congressional study. Those weapons deals were
part of the highly competitive global arms bazaar in the developing world
that grew to $30.2 billion in 2005, up from $26.4 billion in 2004. It is a
market that the United States has regularly dominated. Russia’s agreements with
Iran are not the biggest part of its total sales - India and China are its
principal buyers. But the sales to improve Iran’s air-defense system are
particularly troubling to the United States because they would complicate the
task of Pentagon planners should the president order airstrikes on Iran’s
nuclear weapons facilities. The Bush administration has
vowed a diplomatic solution in dealing with Iran. But as United Nations
diplomats argue over potential sanctions against Iran for its nuclear
ambitions, Russian officials have expressed reluctance to vote for the most stringent
economic sanctions, partly owing to Moscow’s extensive trade relations with
Tehran. Russia’s weapons sales to
China also worry Pentagon planners. Although China has joined the United
States in partnership to press for a resumption of six-party talks to end
North Korea’s nuclear weapons program after its recent test, Taiwan remains a
potential flash point between Beijing and Washington. Thus, China’s ability to
refuel its attack planes and bombers to enable them to fly farther from
Chinese soil could require the United States Navy to operate even farther out
to sea should the United States military be called to deal with a crisis in
the Taiwan Strait. That would have an impact on the range and number of air
missions of United States Navy aircraft launched from carriers. Details of the specific
weapons deals in the global arms trade last year are included in an annual
study by the Congressional Research Service that is considered the most
thorough compilation of statistics available in an unclassified form. The
report was delivered to members of Congress on Friday. Among other arms transfers
described in the study was a statistic that a single, unnamed nation - but
one identified separately by Pentagon and other administration officials to
be North Korea - shipped about 40 ballistic missiles to other nations in the
four-year period ending in 2005, the only nation to have done so. Transfers
of these weapons are prohibited under international agreements to control the
trade of ballistic missiles. United Nations sanctions passed
earlier this month after the North Korean nuclear test include a new and
specific ban on trade or transport of ballistic missiles and missile parts to
or from North Korea. The report, entitled
“Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations,” found that Russia’s arms
agreements with the developing world totaled $7 billion in 2005, an increase
from its $5.4 billion in sales in 2004. That figure surpassed the United
States’ annual sales agreements to the developing world for the first time
since the collapse of the Soviet Union. France ranked second in arms
transfer agreements to developing nations, with $6.3 billion, and the United
States was third, with $6.2 billion. The leading buyer in the
developing world in 2005 was India, with $5.4 billion in weapons purchases,
followed by Saudi Arabia with $3.4 billion and China with $2.8 billion. The total value of all arms
sales deals worldwide, when counting both developing and developed nations,
in 2005 was $44.2 billion. The Russian sales in 2005
included 29 of the SA-15 Gauntlet surface-to-air missile systems for Iran;
Russia also signed deals to upgrade Iran’s Su-24 bombers and MIG-29 fighter
aircraft, as well as its T-72 battle tanks. “For a period of time, in
the mid-1990s, the Russian government agreed not to make new advanced weapons
sales to the Iran government,” wrote Richard F. Grimmett, author of the study
by the Congressional Research Service, a division of the Library of Congress.
“That agreement has since been rescinded by Russia. As the U.S. focuses
increasing attention on Iran’s efforts to enhance its nuclear as well as
conventional military capabilities, major arms transfers to Iran continue to
be a matter of concern.” Russia also agreed in 2005
to sell China eight of the IL-78M aerial refueling tanker aircraft, according
to the study. In 2005, the United States
led in total arms transfer agreements, when deals to both developed and
developing nations are combined. The total was $12.8 billion, down from $13.2
billion in 2004. The report charted no
blockbuster military sales deals by the United States in 2005, and the total
in many ways was reached by sales of spare parts for weapons purchased under
previous contracts. France ranked second in
total sales, with $7.9 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 2004. Russia was
third when sales to developing and developed nations were combined, with $7.4
billion, up from $5.6 billion in 2004. The study uses figures in
2005 dollars, with amounts for previous years adjusted to account for
inflation. External link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/world/europe/29weapons.html |