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International-UN-NGOs
Arms sales record as firms duck controls with 'flat-pack' weapons
2006-10-03
Worldwide spending on weapons is expected to reach record levels this year at a time when the arms industry is increasingly able to avoid export controls, human rights and aid agencies say in a report published yesterday.

By the end of the year, military spending is estimated to reach $1,058bn (£561bn), about 15 times the amount spent on international aid, say Amnesty, Oxfam, and the International Action Network on Small Arms (Iansa).
That's total military spending, and the US is about 40% of that. Of course Oxam and Iansa think we're immoral to defend ourselves.
They claim that last year the US, Russia, Britain, France and Germany accounted for an estimated 82% of all arms transfers. Other countries are emerging as major exporters. Brazil, India, Israel, Singapore, South Africa, and South Korea have arms firms in the top 100, Amnesty says.
Posted by:Steve White

#5  That French design was the Super Frelon and the South African derivative is the Roovalk. As a matter of fact, the French derived attack helicopter is so close in design to the South African, there is some question whether the French used industrial espionage to get the plans from the South Africans, rather than just doing an all-idependent design.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-10-03 19:07  

#4  Actually, a better example of that, Darth, is the SuperCobra. It uses the same engine as the Huey {Bell 214}, which is one of the most used civilian helicopters in the world. The 214 is also made by several companies worldwide under license, so there is a lot of parts bleed around the world. And the South Africans during apartheid developed an attack copter based on the engines and controls licensed to them by the French for production of one of the French helicopter designs.
Posted by: Shieldwolf   2006-10-03 19:02  

#3  "The UN has just opened its annual session on arms control."

A mere coincidence, surely.
Posted by: mojo   2006-10-03 10:20  

#2  The problem is most of those parts can be "duel use" and are designed to be.

For instance, it is a hell of a lot cheaper to build an engine that fits in private jets AND a attack chopper. Companies make more money and produce more product for a cheaper cost to private buyers and governments. It is called "Free Market", you socialist asswhipes. It is what is allowing the US to kick your sorry asses economically for the last 30 years.
Posted by: DarthVader   2006-10-03 09:52  

#1  Arms sales record as firms duck controls with 'flat-pack' weapons

Sleep tight and don't let those AI bugs bite!
Posted by: Big Daddy War Bucks   2006-10-03 02:03  

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