P-37 Russia, France now ahead of US in the sale of military weapons....

Russia, France overtake US as top arms sellers

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States ceded to Russia and France last year its role of the top arms supplier to the developing world as it failed to take full advantage of emerging markets and opportunities created by booming oil prices, according to a new congressional study.

The annual report by the Congressional Research Service showed the US share of the arms transfer market dropped from 35.4 percent to 20.5 percent between 2004 and 2005...... In monetary terms, the value of these deals fell from 9.4 billion dollars to about 6.2 billion.

By contrast, Russia made last year seven billion dollars selling weaponry to Asia, Africa and Latin America, a notable increase from 5.4 billion the year before..... This successful deal making has propelled Russia to the position of the top arms supplier to the developing world, the report said.

France rose to second place, inking last year 6.3 billion dollars worth of deals for delivery of military hardware, up from just one billion dollars in agreements in 2004...... France's success, the study said, was attributable to a 3.5-billion-dollar agreement with India for the sale of six Scorpene diesel attack submarines.

Russia's rise to the pinnacle of the world arms business was fueled by its booming trade with two emerging Asian giants -- Indian and China -- as well as
Iran, a controversial client whose buying power was nonetheless greatly enhanced by high oil prices.....Meanwhile, Iran, fearing airstrikes against its nuclear facilities, is buying from Russia 29 SA-15 Gauntlet air defense systems for over 700 million.

While noting that China's 2005 arms sales total was a modest 2.1 billion dollars, the report pointed out that Iran and North Korea were reportedly among clients receiving Chinese missile technology.... The document, therefore, warned that "China can present an obstacle to efforts to stem proliferation of advanced missile systems.

UPDATES
'06 Nov 01 Asia tops arms market survey WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Asia has shot past the Middle East as the world's largest arms market, with India concluding $5.4 billion in deals in 2005, the most of any developing nation, a new report for the U.S. Congress has found......

Weapons orders worldwide rose sharply in 2005, according to an annual study by the Congressional Research Service -- one of the most authoritative, unclassified, reports of its kind...... The total, $44.2 billion in arms deals, was the largest for any year in the period reviewed, which began in 1998. The next highest was $29.3 billion in 2003.