Arms trade

09 June 2008 -- A Swedish research organization says global military spending has increased 45 percent over the past decade, while noting increased support for new arms control talks.

In its annual report, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says international military spending reached nearly $1.4 trillion in 2007 - a six percent increase from the previous year. Arms sales by leading manufacturers during the same period jumped eight percent.

Commenting on the data, institute chief Bates Gill said there is growing urgency around the globe to bring a mainstream momentum to arms control. He also said disarmament by the largest nuclear powers - the United States and Russia - could play a critical role in spurring reduced military spending elsewhere in the world.    » read more »

28 May 2008 -- Diplomats from more than 100 countries meeting in Ireland have agreed on a draft treaty outlawing cluster bombs, which have killed or wounded thousands of civilians.

The draft approved Wednesday would give signatory nations eight years to destroy their cluster bomb stockpiles.

M20 Rockeye cluster bomb

Earlier, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said his government will stop using cluster bombs. But the United States, one of the world's largest builders of the bombs, opposes a ban.

The U.S., Israel, Russia, China, India and Pakistan are not present at the Dublin meeting.    » read more »

03 February 2008 -- India is set to buy six Hercules transport planes from U.S-based Lockheed Martin. As Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi, this will be India's biggest arms deal with the United States, and a major departure in New Delhi's military purchasing policies.

Defense Ministry officials says India's security cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recently approved a deal to buy six Hercules transport planes from the United States.

The contract for the C-130J planes is expected to be signed next month. The deal will be worth more than $1 billion.    » read more »

15 January 2008 -- A group of lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives is renewing objections to any sale of sophisticated U.S. precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, 51 Democrats and one Republican have signed on so far to a resolution disapproving of the proposed transaction, which is part of a larger $20 billion military sale to Saudi Arabia and Gulf states aimed at countering threats from Iran.    » read more »

January 14, 2008 -- Washington, DC – Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) issued the following statement today after the Bush Administration announced that it would officially notify the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today of its intent to sell Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) to Saudi Arabia, as part of the much larger package of arms sales to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates:    » read more »

14 January 2008 -- The Bush administration officially notified Congress Monday of its intention to sell sophisticated precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia. The action, coinciding with President Bush's visit to Saudi Arabia, is part of a broader U.S. effort to bolster Gulf allies in the face of a more assertive Iran.

The Bush administration has already briefed Congress on its arms sales plans for Saudi Arabia. Monday's announcement sets in motion a 30-day period in which the House and Senate can block the plan with a joint resolution - action that appears highly unlikely.    » read more »

December 18, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – A bipartisan group of 48 Senators, lead by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and John McCain (R-AZ), today, asked the President to support an international arms embargo against Burma. In a letter to the White House, the Senators urged the President to press the UN Security Council to impose sanctions and to continue to support the efforts of thousands of Burmese citizens fighting for democratic change.    » read more »