Putin’s Russia Kicks Britain Off The Second Spot: India’s All Weather Friend Now The Largest Arms Exporter After USA

Russia has beaten Britain to become the largest producer of arms, seconded only by United States. Britain, which held the spot since 2002, is still Western Europe’s largest supplier of weapons.

In the annual report published by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the Russian companies’ combined sales were increased by 8.5 per cent to $37.7 billion in 2017, thus accounting for 9.5 per cent of the worldwide total of $398.2 billion.

The institute doesn't include Chinese companies in its report of domestic and foreign sales around the globe, due to their unreliable statistics, as reported by ET.

A senior researcher at the institute, Siemon Wezeman commented that Russian weapons companies have been on a significant growth trajectory since 2011, which is in line with its effort to modernise its armed forces. Russia had initiated a process to consolidate its arms in 2007, which is expected to finish soon.

Almaz-Antey, a Moscow-based state-owned company has been listed in the world’s top 10 weapons companies, a first in the institute’s history.

The U.S. continues its dominance in the list with 42 companies contributing 52 per cent of the total global sales, including the world’s largest arms producer, Lockheed Martin Corp.