Russia lost its position as the world's second largest arms exporter for the first time

Russia dropped to third place for the first time in the list of the world's largest arms exporters.
According to new data released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden on March 10, Russia's powerful arms export industry is being affected amid the conflict between the country and Ukraine. there is no end yet.

According to SIPRI, Russia has dropped to third place behind the US and France in the list of the world's largest arms exporters. This is the first time that Russia has dropped in the rankings since SIPRI began keeping statistics in the 1950s.

The above organization stated that Russia's arms exports have decreased by 53% compared to the period 2014-2018 with 2019-2023. The number of important Russian customers has decreased from 31 to 12 countries in the past five years, SIPRI said.

"The situation could change quickly, new large orders could appear," Pieter D. Wezeman, SIPRI senior researcher, told Newsweek. "But we haven't seen them yet. And some The order has been placed, let's wait and see if Russia can deliver or not." After 2 years of fighting, Russia is focusing its efforts on the weapons industry to ensure the needs of the military in the conflict with Ukraine.

In addition, Russia's domestic industry and overseas trade have been restricted by Western sanctions. Although Moscow has found ways around sanctions, limited access to Western technology has undermined its production of more advanced weapons.


The question is to what extent the Russian arms industry can simultaneously satisfy Russia's domestic and export needs, while also taking into account sanctions related to the technology that Russia still needs to produce weapons as well as payment methods under embargo conditions," Mr. Wezeman said.

In addition, the SIPRI report points out that European countries imported almost twice as many weapons in the period 2019-2023 compared to the period 2014-2018. Ukraine became Europe's largest arms importer after hostilities with Russia broke out in 2022.

The US increased arms exports by 17% in the period 2019-2023, still maintaining its leading position. In recent times, Russia has repeatedly announced that it has accelerated weapon production to serve needs on the front lines.

In January, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko said that the country's Armed Forces would receive more than 36,000 pieces of military equipment and 16.5 million weapons this year. The above official added that this number is many times higher than 2 years ago. The Russian Deputy Minister's statement came in the context of NATO admitting that it had underestimated the potential of Russia, the world's leading military power.

Commander-in-Chief of the Estonian Army Martin Herem, a NATO member country, said new intelligence about Russia's capabilities has prompted the Western military alliance to conduct a reassessment of its opponent. He said that, contrary to previous predictions, Russia is now able to produce several million artillery shells per year and recruit hundreds of thousands of soldiers.