ACCORDING to a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report published in March, France could soon take the place of Russia as the second-largest weapons exporter after the United States.
Currently, the U.S. is at the number 1 spot for having a whopping 40% share of global arms exports; Russia with 16%; France 11%; China 5.2%; Germany 4.2%; Italy 3.8%; United Kingdom 3.2%; Spain 2.6%; South Korea 2.4%; And Israel with 2.3% at 10th place.
For both France and Russia, India is their biggest client. Meanwhile, for Paris, Qatar and Egypt are its second and third biggest clients, while for Moscow, it’s China and Egypt.
Between the years 2018 and 2022, the SIPRI report shows Russia’s arms exports largely declined by 31%, mainly due to the war in Ukraine, in a huge contrast to France’s 44% increase in the same period.
“France has considerably more major arms on order for export than Russia, which suggests that it is possible that in the coming decade, French arms exports will be in the same order of magnitude, or even larger than those of Russia,” Pieter Wezeman, Senior researcher, SIPRI said.
It can be remembered that in the month of July, India approved an order of 3 Scorpene-class French-made submarines and 26 marine Rafale jets, while the United Arab Emirates signed a record 19 billion dollar contract for 80 Rafale fighter jets and 12 military helicopters from France In December 2021.
Reports say a steep increase in sales and future orders of arms to countries in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East over the last 5 years suggests French suppliers could surpass their Russian rivals within a decade.
However, as of now, Russia is still the world’s second-largest arms exporter.
