Russia arms exports topped $15 bn in 2014
January 28, 2015, 4:27 am

Putin said new challenges and threats forced many countries to revise their military doctrines and modernize their armed forces, adding that “we have to consider these tendencies” [PPIO]

“Last year, Russian arms and military equipment were in demand in over 60 countries. The total volume of sales exceeded 15 billion U.S. dollars. New contracts worth 14 billion U.S. dollars were also added to the already significant portfolio of Russian arms manufactures,” Putin told a meeting of the Commission for Military Technology Cooperation with Foreign States.

The president said new challenges and threats forced many countries to revise their military doctrines and modernize their armed forces, adding that “we have to consider these tendencies.”

“Russia will expand its presence on such prospective markets and the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, Latin America and the Carribbean,” Putin told a meeting at the Kremlin.

Given the complicated geopolitical situation, Putin stressed that the export of high technology military products was of great significance to Russia.

“This is important for the renewal of defense industry, for enhancing research, testing and design work and for the resolution of a number of social matters,” he said.

Putin called on domestic manufacturers to make maximum use of Russia’s competitive edge to compete with other world defense providers.

Russia is one of the leading exporters in global market of arms and military technology. Russian-made weapons are supplied to 66 countries, and Moscow has military-technical cooperation agreements with 85 countries.

The increase in Russian arms sales was the result of uninterrupted investment by the government in the 2000s, intended to bring production and weapons capabilities on par with those of the west, says Stockholm International Peace  Research Institute.

“The share of global arms sales for companies outside North America and Western Europe has been increasing since 2005,” said Aude Fleurant, director of Sipri’s arms and military expenditure program, last month.

Source: Agencies