Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Arms Production Project Slides Prepared for “Trends in Arms Production” Presentation Conference on Economics and Security, University of the West of England, Bristol 24th-26th June 2004 Eamon Surry, Research Assistant, Arms Production Project, SIPRI
(1) The Arms Industry Database Established 1989 Approx. 700 companies Excludes China (lack of comparable data) Main output: The SIPRI ‘Top 100’ list rod/top100/byrank.htm rod/top100/byrank.htm
Sources Company Financial Statements Other Company Publications Official Sources (DOD Contract lists, etc.) Annual Company Survey Media Interviews Specialist Journals The SIPRI Arms Industry Network
2004 Conversion to a new web-based data system Website completely overhauled A new ‘Top 100’ list, the first in two years Plans to integrate Poland and Ukraine
The New Database
(2) Trends in Arms Production Arms industry restructuring no longer driven by pressures to downsize and rationalize, but rather by the pursuit of contracts in a new military environment The Iraq War highlighted just how far the boundaries of what we call the ‘arms’ or ‘defence’ industry have expanded
L3 Acquisition Activity
Private Military Firms in Iraq Vinnell Corporation, a subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, was awarded a $48 million contract to train the new Iraqi Army. DynCorp, a subsidiary of Computer Sciences Corporation, won a contract worth $50 million to train the Iraqi police force. Kellogg, Brown and Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, was awarded a contract in December 2001 to provide logistical support for US Army field operations…According to the Center for Public Integrity, by September 2003 the company had been awarded orders in Iraq amounting to a total of $2 billion. (SIPRI Yearbook 2004, Chapter 11)
Private Military Firms Military support firms – Non-Lethal Aid and Assistance (Kellogg Brown and Root) Military consultancy firms – Advisory and Training (Vinnell Corporation) Military provider firms – Implementation and Command (DynCorp, Blackwater) From: Singer, P. W., Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry (Cornell University Press: Ithaca, N.Y. and London, 2003.
How to integrate the PMFs? At what point do we decide that a support or services company is performing a military task? How can we extract and assess only their military activities from the sum of their total sales?