SIPRI introduced the main arms suppliers of Armenia and Azerbaijan

ArmInfo. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) informs about the  trends in the acquisition of weapons by various countries over the  past five years, and the main players in the arms market.  Thus,  according to the publication, the demand for weapons in the world  does not decrease, as does competition between the main arms  suppliers.

"International transfers of major arms during the five-year period  2015-19 increased by 5.5 per cent compared with 2010-14. According to  new data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute  (SIPRI), the largest exporters of arms during the past five years  were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China. The new  data shows that the flow of arms to the Middle East has increased,  with Saudi Arabia clearly being the world's largest importer>, the  Organization's analysts noted.

At the same time, they state that the United States and France  sharply increased the supply of weapons, trying to squeeze Russia on  the market.  "Between 2010-14 and 2015-19, exports of major arms from  the USA grew by 23 per cent, raising its share of total global arms  exports to 36 per cent. In 2015-19 total US arms exports were 76 per  cent higher than those of the second-largest arms exporter in the  world, Russia. Major arms transferred from the USA went to a total of  96 countries.  'Half of US arms exports in the past five years went  to the Middle East, and half of those went to Saudi Arabia,' says  Pieter D. Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI. 'At the same time,  demand for the USA's advanced military aircraft increased,  particularly in Europe, Australia, Japan and Taiwan.' French arms  exports reached their highest level for any five-year period since  1990 and accounted for 7.9 per cent of total global arms exports in  2015-19, a 72 per cent increase on 2010-14. 'The French arms industry  has benefited from the demand for arms in Egypt, Qatar and India,'  says Diego Lopes Da Silva, SIPRI Researcher."

As for Russia, it still ranks second in the supply of arms in the  world."Major arms exports by Russia decreased by 18 per cent between  2010-14 and 2015-19. 'Russia has lost traction in India-the main  long-term recipient of Russian major arms-which has led to a sharp  reduction in arms exports,' says Alexandra Kuimova, SIPRI Researcher.  'This decrease was not offset by the increase in Russian arms exports  to Egypt and Iraq in 2015-19.'"

"Arms imports by countries in the Middle East increased by 61 per  cent between 2010- 14 and 2015-19, and accounted for 35 per cent of  total global arms imports over the past five years. Saudi Arabia was  the world's largest arms importer in 2015-19. Its imports of major  arms increased by 130 per cent compared with the previous five-year  period and it accounted for 12 per cent of global arms imports in  2015-19. Despite the wide-ranging concerns in the USA and the United  Kingdom about Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Yemen, both the  USA and the UK continued to export arms to Saudi Arabia in 2015- 19.  A total of 73 per cent of Saudi Arabia's arms imports came from the  USA and 13 per cent from the UK.

India was the second-largest arms importer in the world over the past  five years, with its neighbour Pakistan ranking 11th. 'As in previous  years, in 2019 India and Pakistan- which are nuclear-armed  states-attacked each other using an array of imported major arms,'  says Siemon T. Wezeman, Senior Researcher at SIPRI. 'Many of the  world's largest arms exporters have supplied these two states for  decades, often exporting arms to both sides.'

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been militarily involved in Libya  as well as Yemen over the past five years and was the eighth-largest  arms importer in the world in 2015- 19. Two-thirds of its arms  imports came from the USA during this period. In 2019, when foreign  military involvement in Libya was condemned by the United Nations  Security Council, the UAE had major arms import deals ongoing with  Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Russia, South Africa,  Spain, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the USA.

In 2015-19 there were again armed clashes between Armenia and  Azerbaijan. Both countries are building up their military capability  through imports, including missiles capable of attacking targets  inside each other's territory. Russia accounted for almost all of  Armenia's arms imports over the past five years. A total of 60 per  cent of Azerbaijan's arms imports came from Israel and 31 per cent  from Russia.

In 2015-19 Turkish arms imports were 48 per cent lower than in the  previous five-year period, even though its military was fighting  Kurdish rebels and was involved in the conflicts in Libya and Syria.  This decrease in imports can be explained by delays in deliveries of  some major arms, the cancellation of a large deal with the USA for  combat aircraft, and developments in the capability of the Turkish  arms industry."

The SIPRI Arms Transfers Database is the only public resource that  provides consistent information, often estimates, on all  international transfers of major arms (including sales, gifts and  production under licence) to states, international organizations and  non- state groups since 1950. SIPRI's data reflects the volume of  deliveries of arms, not the financial value of the deals. As the  volume of deliveries can ?uctuate signi?cantly year- on-year, SIPRI  presents data for five-year periods, giving a more stable measure of  trends.  This is the second of three major data launches in the  lead-up to the publication of SIPRI's flagship publication in  mid-2020, the annual SIPRI Yearbook. The third data launch release  will provide comprehensive information on global, regional and  national trends in military spending.