Alexander Kruglov, Asia Times: Business booming for Russia’s arms traders
Moscow has overtaken Britain and become the number two weapons producer and trader in the world.
In a high-profile spat, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has acknowledged he is buying S-400 missile defense systems, a deal that has put Ankara on a collision course with Nato and Washington and complicated the country’s deal to buy F35 stealth jets from the United States.
This Ankara-Washington stand-off over the sale of Russian missiles and Erdogan’s obvious commitment to go ahead with the deal make clear how Moscow’s aggressive arms trade is offering the Kremlin new opportunities to strengthen its position, influence and foothold the world over.
Turkey is only one of the markets for Moscow’s arms traders. According to the latest annual report by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) for 2018, Russia has surpassed Britain as the number two arms producer and trader in the world, behind perennial number one, the US.
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WNU editor: The past few years has seen a decline in Russian arms exports (see above graph), but 2019 is shaping up to a banner year starting with Turkey buying Russia's S-400 anti-missile system.
