May 23, 2013
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The week's top five must-sees,
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Description
The arms industry is a global business which manufactures weapons and military technology and equipment. It consists of commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military material, equipment and facilities. Arms producing companies, also referred to as defense contractors or military industry, produce arms mainly for the armed forces of states. Departments of government also operate in the arms industry, buying and selling weapons, munitions and other military items. Products include guns, ammunition, missiles, military aircraft, military vehicles, ships, electronic systems, and more. The arms industry also conducts significant research and development.
It is estimated that yearly, over 1.5 trillion dollars are spent on military expenditures worldwide. This represents a decline from 1990 when military expenditures made up 4% of world GDP. Part of this goes to the procurement of military hardware and services from the military industry. The combined arms sales of the top 100 largest arms producing companies amounted to an estimated $315 billion in 2006. In 2004 over $30 billion were spent in the international arms trade. The arms trade has also been one of the sectors impacted by the credit crunch, with total deal value in the market halving from US$32.9bn to US$14.3bn in 2008. Many industrialized countries have a domestic arms industry to supply their own military forces. Some countries also have a substantial legal or illegal domestic trade in weapons for use by its citizens. An illegal trade in small arms is prevalent in many countries and regions affected by political instability.
(via Freebase)
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![Britain's Cameron slammed for acting as weapons dealer to Arab despots [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-13652000/13652428/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=8918adda418ea2667bc290b4e5d5f7e1)
![Sudan: Iran not linked to arms factory bombed by Israel [Dubai TV, UAE]](/images/image_cache/base-13196000/13196297/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=df47d168adec7e796b99e2be88102a37)
![US arms sales reach record high as Gulf states stock up [Press TV, Iran]](/images/image_cache/base-9403000/9403822/thumbnail.width=304,height=171,grow=1,crop=center.jpg?sig=f01bf4688278b32a0fd4a58503943ad9)