Table
1: The
10 largest exporters of major arms and their main clients,
2013–17
Note:
Percentage of total is rounded to 1
decimal
place (except for percentages over 10
which
are rounded to whole numbers).
|
|||||||
Exporter
|
Share
of
arms
exports (%)
|
Per
cent change from 2008–12 to 2013–17
|
Main
clients (share of exporter’s total exports, %),
2013–17
|
||||
2013–17
|
2008–12
|
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
|||
1
|
United
States
|
34
|
30
|
25
|
Saudi
Arabia (18)
|
UAE
(7.4)
|
Australia
(6.7)
|
2
|
Russia
|
22
|
26
|
-7.1
|
India
(35)
|
China
(12)
|
Viet
Nam (10)
|
3
|
France
|
6.7
|
5.8
|
27
|
Egypt
(25)
|
China
(8.6)
|
India
(8.5)
|
4
|
Germany
|
5.8
|
7.4
|
-14
|
South
Korea (14)
|
Greece
(11)
|
Israel
(8.7)
|
5
|
China
|
5.7
|
4.6
|
38
|
Pakistan
(35)
|
Bangladesh
(19)
|
Algeria
(10)
|
6
|
U
K
|
4.8
|
3.8
|
37
|
Saudi
Arabia (49)
|
Oman
(14)
|
Indonesia
(9.9)
|
7
|
Spain
|
2.9
|
2.9
|
12
|
Australia
(34)
|
Turkey
(14)
|
Saudi
Arabia (8.3)
|
8
|
Israel
|
2.9
|
2.1
|
55
|
India
(49)
|
Azerbaijan
(13)
|
Viet
Nam (6.3)
|
9
|
Italy
|
2.5
|
2.4
|
13
|
UAE
(12)
|
Turkey
(10)
|
Algeria
(9.9)
|
10
|
Netherlands
|
2.1
|
2.1
|
14
|
Jordan
(15)
|
Indonesia
(15)
|
USA
(11)
|
A
Dutch Parliamentary Commission asked the Minister of Foreign Trade
and Development Aid, Sigrid Kaag, to send an explanation to
the Parliament. On June 6 the report and the appreciation by the
Minister will be discussed in Parliament. Minister Kaag praised the
SIPRI report for its methodological consistency, making it a tool to
map changes in the global volume of arms exports. But spins
that the Netherlands is a much smaller exporter as is painted in the
report, because of two arguments:
a) most Dutch surplus weapons sold fall
under the eleven categories researched (see SIPRI
sources and methods) and SIPRI gives them a 40%
value of the original cost in its Trend Indicator Value (TIV). The
Netherlands has, unlike other countries, a transparent policy on the
sale of surplus arms and this combined leads to a high export value;
and
b) because small arms and ammunition
are not included, the substantial small arms and ammunition
industries of other EU countries are not included in the ranking.
“All together the methodology
results in the description of the Netherlands as a relatively big
arms exporter,” and, “the picture would be different when
all exports of military material were included and when the value of
export permission or actual exports were taken to measure the value,”
the Minister concludes.
Surplus
The surplus argument is peculiar,
because SIPRI reports also on the exports of surplus arms from other
countries. Maybe their governments don't report as clearly as the
Dutch government does, but surplus exports of major arms are – as
industrial exports - in the Transfers
of major weapons database for all countries based on a wide range
of sources, not only on government reporting.
Small arms and ammo
Small arms do not make much difference
in the reporting as their financial volume is limited. Germany for
example provided licenses for small arms exports in 2006-2016
valued € 561 million. This is just over one percent of all
German military exports accounting for € 55 billion. All EU members
together issued export
licenses for small arms valued € 3 billion in 2016 of which 80%
(€ 2.4 billion) for export to the US. Compared to the total of €
190 billion military exports this is less than 2%. EU ammunition
export permissions valued were € 8 billion in 2016. Thus including
both ammo and small arms has some effect: Belgium and Austria would
join the league of large arms exporters. So the minister has a point
here.
Not mentioned however is that the
Rotterdam harbor facilitates the shipping of large amounts of small
arms and ammunition to destinations such as as the Philippines, South
Africa. China exports ammunition through Rotterdam to Italy. The
Netherlands is an international hub for arms exports (see: The
Netherlands transit of small arms and ammunition 2013-2018) which
is not counted by SIPRI but gives our country a big role in the
international arms trade.
Ranking
Arms export is not a sports event where
ranking makes sense, but a serious issue for peace, stability, human
rights and development. When Sweden will start exporting its Gripen
fighter jets to Brazil, it will directly surpass the Netherlands in
the near future. Which shows the relative value of such a ranking
order. Relevant is that over a quarter of global major arms sales
come from European Union member states. Combined with North America,
western countries are responsible for 60% of all international trade
in major weapon systems.
Main clients and components
The main clients of Dutch arms exports
buy in the categories surplus and naval.(see table 2).
Tabel
2: Dutch transfers of major
weapons: deals with deliveries 2013-2017
|
|||||||
recipient
|
No.
ordered
|
designation
|
Weapon
description
|
Year(s)
Weapon
of
order
|
Year
delivery
|
Of
delivered
|
Comments
|
Indonesia
|
1
|
SIGMA-105
|
Frigate
|
2012
|
2017
|
1
|
$220
m deal (incl production of components and assembly in Indonesia);
part of 'PKR' programme; SIGMA-10514 version; Indonesian
designation Martadinata
|
1
|
SIGMA-105
|
Frigate
|
2013
|
2017
|
1
|
Incl
production of components and assembly in Indonesia; part of 'PKR'
programme; SIGMA-10514 version
|
|
3
|
Scout
|
Sea
search radar
|
2013
|
2014
|
3
|
For
3 Brunei (Bung Tomo) frigates from UK
|
|
| Jordan |
52
|
AGM-65
Maverick
|
ASM
|
2013
|
2015
|
52
|
Second-hand
|
15
|
F-16C
|
FGA
aircraft
|
-2013
|
2017
|
15
|
Second-hand;
'Peace Falcon-6' deal; F-16AM version (incl 2 F-16BM/F-16D)
|
|
15
|
Flycatcher
|
Fire
control radar
|
2013
|
2014
|
15
|
Second-hand;
part of EUR21m deal
|
|
60
|
Gepard
|
SPAAG
|
2013
|
2014-2016
|
60
|
Second-hand;
part of EUR21 m deal
|
|
5
|
AIFV
|
IFV
|
2016
|
2016
|
5
|
Second-hand;
aid
|
|
United
States
|
15(33)
|
Stan
Patrol-4708
|
Patrol
craft
|
2009
|
2012-2017
|
25
|
For
coast guard
|
Source:
SIPRI Arms Transfers Database
(
) part of deal not yet delivered.
Information
generated: 28 May 2018
|
|||||||
Jordan is 1st mainly because
of the sale of F-16 aircraft. Jordan is a country using its fighter
aircraft in Syria and in the Saudi led coalition against Yemen. Dutch
weapons count for 43% of Jordan's major arms imports in 2013-2017.
Indonesia is 2nd because of
the sale of Damen warships, which will have a huge impact in this
volatile region. (SIPRI does not include Thales command and control
systems, a major part of Dutch arms exports.)
The US is 3rd also because
of license build Damen Stan Patrol-4708 ships. The US is however far
more important for the Netherlands as a receiver of components for
missiles, helicopters and fighter aircraft (see table 3). Those
components are not separately reported in international statistics,
because they are assembled in bigger systems.
Front runner
The
letter of Minister Kaag concludes with a paragraph on the excellent
Dutch arms export policy. A judgment
underlined by denials of export permissions and the Dutch restrictive
policy based on the Common Position. It cannot be denied the Dutch
government is doing well in many respects, but not in all.
Downgrading its own role in the international arms export business is
not helping this role as front runner in arms control.
Table
3: 10 largest Dutch arms
export permission 2013-2017
|
|||
9-12-2014
|
Parts
of F-35 fighter aircraft
|
Italy;
Turkey; US
|
700,000,000
|
18-7-2014
|
Frigates
and parts
|
Indonesia
|
355,000,000
|
17-6-2013
|
Parts
and accessories for frigates
|
Indonesia
|
345,000,000
|
27-10-2017
|
Parts
for patrol vessels
|
US
|
329,931,421
|
22-7-2015
|
Parts
of frigates
|
Indonesia
|
251,000,000
|
26-3-2014
|
Optical
components and technical drafts
|
EU
|
216,550,000
|
27-12-2016
|
Parts
of radar and C3 systems
|
Indonesia
|
196,425,000
|
20-2-2014
|
Mix
of small and large caliber ammunition (for decommission)
|
Germany
|
168,831,250
|
27-10-2014
|
Patrol
vessels
|
Trinidad
& Tobago
|
140,391,927
|
24-2-2016
|
Parts
for F-35 fighter aircraft
|
Japan
|
137,400,594
|
