China has become the world's second biggest military spender behind the United States relegating Saudi Arabia and India to third and fourth place respectively according to a new report by the Swedish International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) which compiles global arms procurement data.
China increased its military spending by 5.6 per cent to $228 billion in 2017. China’s spending as a share of world military expenditure has risen from 5.8 per cent in 2008 to 13 per cent in 2017. India spent $63.9 billion on its military in 2017, an increase of 5.5 per cent compared with 2016, while South Korea’s spending, at $39.2 billion, rose by 1.7 per cent between 2016 and 2017, according to new figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
In comparison. Russia’s military spending fell for the first time since 1998, while spending by the United States remained constant for the second successive year.
With spending of $69.4 billion, Saudi Arabia had the third highest military expenditure in the world in 2017. Iran (19 per cent) and Iraq (22 per cent) also recorded significant increases in military spending in 2017.
‘Despite low oil prices, armed conflict and rivalries throughout the Middle East are driving the rise in military spending in the region,’ said Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI AMEX programme. In 2017 military expenditure as a share of GDP (known as the ‘military burden’) was highest in the Middle East, at 5.2 per cent. No other region in the world allocated more than 1.8 per cent of GDP to military spending.
Seven of the 10 countries with the highest military burden are in the Middle East: Oman (12 per cent of GDP), Saudi Arabia (10 per cent of GDP), Kuwait (5.8 per cent of GDP), Jordan (4.8 per cent of GDP), Israel (4.7 per cent of GDP), Lebanon (4.5 per cent of GDP) and Bahrain (4.1 per cent of GDP).
At $610 billion, the USA spent more on its military than the next seven highest-spending countries combined in 2017. ‘The downward trend in US military spending that started in 2010 has come to an end,’ said Dr Aude Fleurant, Director of the SIPRI AMEX programme. US military spending in 2018 is set to rise significantly to support increases in military personnel and the modernization of conventional and nuclear weapons, he added.
South Korean companies recorded a 20.6% increase in arms sales during 2016 compared to a year ago leading a pack of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)s ‘emerging producers category which covers companies based in Brazil, India, South Korea and Turkey
Russia and the United States are slowly reducing their nuclear arsenals but are modernizing their capabilities according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) annual report. The SIPRI said that there were 455 fewer nuclear warheads at the start of 2016 among nine nuclear states than a year earlier
According to a study published by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its annual nuclear forces data, Pakistan still has higher number of nuclear warheads than India and also beats Israel and North Korea. The report comes just days after disgraced nuclear scientist AQ Khan, father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, claimed that the country had the ability to hit India in five minutes
With a total of 48 submarines on order in export deals by the end of 2015 and other orders that include Australian, Indonesian and Indian submarine contracts coming up this year, submarine sales are expect to grow significantly. The advent of submarine technology now offers underwater endurance lasting several weeks and is equipped with ling-range anti-ship missiles and torpedoes and land-attack missiles
China has seen an overall increase of 1430 percent growth in combat drone sales pushing it to the number one spot in exports, according to a report by Stockholm based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published on Monday. According to the report, from 2014 to 2018, China exported some 153 Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles (UCAV) to 13 nations that include Middle Eastern countries such as Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Indian Bharat Electronics jumped 10 places from 74 to 64 in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutes (SIPRI) list of top 100 arms-producing and military services companies for the year 2017. Three other companies figured in the top 100 list, namely, Ordnance Factory Board on 37, Hindustan Aeronautics on 38 and Bharat Dynamics Ltd on 94
Lockheed Martin is the world's leading arms seller with $44.9 billion sales while the combined sales of 10 Russian companies $37
China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier has concluded its maiden sea trial on Friday, and is returning to Dalian Shipyard in northeast China's Liaoning Province, according to reports by Xinhua. The five-day sea trial, starting from May 13, tested the carrier's equipment, and has achieved the desired aim
China launched its first domestically built aircraft carrier to begin sea trials on Sunday, which will likely be delivered to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy by this year end, according to reports in state news media. The aircraft carrier, as yet unnamed, set out to sea from a port outside the Dalian Shipyard to begin its first sea trial
The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has deployed its stealth fighter jet, J-20, to sea areas for combat training. "The J-20 has conducted a combat training mission in sea areas for the first time, and this has further strengthened the comprehensive combat capability of the PLA Air Force," PLA air force spokesperson Shen Jinke was quoted as saying by
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