Russia, armamenti, Usa,
Francia
Nyt 061029
La Russia primo venditore di armamenti nei PVS nel 2005
THOM SHANKER
Il mercato degli armamenti nei PVS, in cui finora predominavano
gli USA, è cresciuto da $26,4MD nel 2004 a $30,2MD nel 2005.
Nel 2005 la Russia ha superato gli USA nella vendita di
armamenti ai PVS, con $7MD in totale contro i $5,4MD del 2004, con nuovi
accordi per la vendita di 8 IL-78M, aerei per rifornimento combustibile alla
Cina e $700mn per 29 missili terra-aria SA-15 all’Iran. (dallo studio annuale del
Congresso USA, titolo “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations”).
La Russia ha anche sottoscritto un accordo con l’Iran per l’ammodernamento
dei bombardieri Su-24 e MIG-29, e per i carri armati T-72.
A metà anni 1990 la Russia aveva sottoscritto un accordo per
cui rinunciava alla vendita di armi sofisticate all’Iran, accordo poi rescisso.
Le vendite all’Iran servono a migliorare il suo sistema di
difesa e creano problemi agli USA in caso venisse deciso un attacco aero contro
gli impianti nucleari iraniani.
I maggiori acquirenti di armi russe sono però India e Cina.
Anche le vendite alla Cina creano problemi agli USA: con i
bombardieri cinesi in grado di rifornirsi in volo, la marina americana dovrebbe
operare ancora più in alto mare in caso di intervento per crisi con Taiwan.
Secondo lo studio il Nord Corea nel 2005 avrebbe venduto
circa 40 missili balistici ad altri paesi, vendite proibite dagli accordi internazionali.
La Francia risulta seconda nella vendita di armamenti ai
PVS, con €$6,3MD; terzi gli USA con $6,2MD.
Il maggior acquirente dei PVS è l’India, $5,4MD; seguita da
Arabia Saudita, $3,4MD; Cina terza con $2,8MD.
Nel mercato complessivo internazionale degli armamenti nel
2005, pari a €44,2 MD, gli USA erano i primi venditori di armi, con $12,8MD, contro
$13,2MD del 2004.
Nelel vendite totali la Francia è seconda, $7,9MD, contro i
$2,2MD del 2004.
La Russia è terza con $7,4, contro i $5,6 del 2004.
I valori
sono calcolati in $ 2005, con i valori degli anni precedenti deflazionati.
Nyt 061029
Russia Led Arms Sales to Developing World
in ’05
By THOM
SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 —
– Russia
surpassed the United States
in 2005 as the leader in weapons deals with the developing world, and its new
agreements included selling $700 million in surface-to-air missiles to Iran and eight new aerial refueling tankers to China,
according to a new Congressional study.
–
Those weapons deals were part
of the highly competitive global arms bazaar in the developing world that grew to $30.2 billion in 2005, up
from $26.4 billion in 2004. It is a market that the United States has regularly dominated.
– Russia’s agreements with Iran are not
the biggest part of its total sales — India and China are its principal buyers.
But the sales to improve
Iran’s air-defense system are particularly troubling to the United States
because they would complicate the task of Pentagon planners should the president
order airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities.
The Bush administration has vowed a diplomatic
solution in dealing with Iran.
But as United Nations diplomats argue over potential sanctions against Iran for its nuclear ambitions, Russian officials have expressed
reluctance to vote for the most stringent economic sanctions, partly owing to Moscow’s extensive trade relations with Tehran.
Russia’s weapons sales to China
also worry Pentagon planners. Although China
has joined the United States
in partnership to press for a resumption of six-party talks to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons program after its
recent test, Taiwan remains a potential flash point between Beijing and Washington.
Thus, China’s ability to refuel its attack planes and bombers to enable them to
fly farther from Chinese soil could require the United States Navy to operate
even farther out to sea should
the United States military be called to deal with a crisis in the Taiwan Strait.
That would have an impact on the range and number of air missions of United
States Navy aircraft launched from carriers.
Details of the specific weapons deals in the
global arms trade last year are included in an annual study by the Congressional Research Service
that is considered the most thorough compilation of statistics available in an
unclassified form. The report was delivered to members of Congress on Friday.
Among
other arms transfers described in the study was a statistic that a single,
unnamed nation — but one identified separately by Pentagon and other
administration officials to be
North Korea — shipped
about 40 ballistic missiles to other nations in the four-year period ending in
2005, the only nation to have done so. Transfers of these weapons are prohibited under
international agreements to control the trade of ballistic missiles.
United Nations sanctions passed earlier this
month after the North Korean nuclear test include a new and specific ban on
trade or transport of ballistic missiles and missile parts to or from North Korea.
The
report, entitled “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations,” found that Russia’s
arms agreements with the developing world totaled $7 billion in 2005, an increase from its $5.4 billion in
sales in 2004. That figure surpassed the United
States’ annual sales agreements to the developing world
for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
– France ranked second in arms
transfer agreements to developing nations, with $6.3 billion, and the United States
was third, with $6.2 billion.
– The leading buyer in the
developing world in 2005 was India,
with $5.4 billion in weapons purchases, followed by Saudi
Arabia with $3.4 billion and China with $2.8 billion.
– The total value of all
arms sales deals worldwide, when counting both developing and developed
nations, in 2005 was $44.2 billion.
– The Russian sales in 2005
included 29 of the SA-15 Gauntlet surface-to-air missile systems for Iran; Russia
also signed deals to upgrade Iran’s
Su-24 bombers and MIG-29 fighter aircraft, as well as its T-72 battle tanks.
“For
a period of time, in the mid-1990s, the Russian
government agreed not to make
new advanced weapons sales to the Iran government,” wrote Richard
F. Grimmett, author of the study by the Congressional Research Service, a
division of the Library of Congress. “That agreement has since been rescinded by Russia. As the U.S. focuses increasing attention on Iran’s efforts to enhance its nuclear as well as
conventional military capabilities, major arms transfers to Iran continue to be a matter of concern.”
Russia also agreed in 2005 to sell China eight of the IL-78M aerial
refueling tanker aircraft, according to the study.
–
In 2005, the United States led in total arms
transfer agreements, when deals to both developed and developing nations are
combined. The total was $12.8 billion, down from $13.2 billion in 2004.
The report charted no blockbuster military
sales deals by the United
States in 2005, and the total in many ways
was reached by sales of spare parts for weapons purchased under previous
contracts.
France
ranked second in total sales, with $7.9 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 2004. Russia
was third when sales to developing and developed nations were combined, with
$7.4 billion, up from $5.6 billion in 2004.
The study uses
figures in 2005 dollars, with amounts for previous years adjusted to account
for inflation.
New York Times