Thinking Citizen Blog — The Arms Industry — Exporters, Importers, Countries, Companies
Thinking Citizen Blog — Tuesday is Economics, Finance, and Business Day
Today’s Topic: The Arms Industry — exporters, importers, countries, companies
Last time, the pork industry. Two weeks, ago Crocs, the shoe company.
Three weeks ago, UPS. Four weeks ago, John Deere, Caterpillar, and Walgreens.
Today, a darker subject that most of us would probably prefer not to think about.
What should every thinking citizen know about the arms industry? Or should it be called the “defense industry”? or the “military industrial complex”?
What will these statistical tables look like in 20 years? 40 years?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
1. “Although Russia still accounts globally for the second-largest percentage of major exports, it 16% share in 2018 to 2022 is significantly less than the 22% in the previous five year period.”
2. “A prolonged war in Ukraine will likely force Russia to use its own weapons rather than export them.”
3. “Meanwhile, Washington and its allies are expected to continue pressuring importers to not deal with Moscow.”
1. India, the world’s largest importer of major weapons systems, sustains an evolving relationship with Russia. Over the past five years, it received 31% of Russia’s global arms exports, but those comprised only 45% of India’s total arms imports, down from 64% in the previous five years.”
2. “India has taken a middle stance on the war in the Ukraine, rhetorically supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty but continuing significant imports of Russian oil.”
3. “As New Delhi emphasizes self-reliance in its defense industry and separate ties with the West, its approach and role in the arms trade is changing.”
NB: “France overtook the United States as India’s second largest major weapons system provider, accounting for 29% of imports, including 62 combat aircraft and four submarines. The United States accounted for 11% of imports.” “Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest importer, purchased more than three-quarters of its major weapons systems from the United States. Within the Middle East more broadly, the United States provided 54 percent of imported major weapons systems.”
THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DEFENSE COMPANIES
1. Lockheed Martin revenues: Aeronautics, $27 billion. Rotary and mission systems: $16 billion. Other: missiles and fire control, space systems. Lockheed has 123,000 employees and is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland.
2. Raytheon (now RTX) : world’s largest producer of guided missiles. In 2020 merged with United Technologies to form RTX. The merged company is headquartered in Arlington, VA. Raytheon had been previously based in Cambridge, Lexington, Newton, and Waltham Massachusetts. Employees: 185,000.
3. Northrup Grumman: “leads the development of the B-21, a long-range, stealth strategic bomer that can drop conventional and nuclear weapons; it will replace Northrop’s own B-2 Spirit, the world’s only known stealth bomber.” Headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia. Employees: 95,000.
NB: General Dynamics: “Formed in 1954 with the merger of submarine manufacturer Electric Boat and aircraft manufacturer Canadair…The company’s products include Gulfstream business jets,Virginia and Columbia class nuclear-powered submarines, Arleigh Burke class guided guided-missile destroyers, M1 Abrams tanks and Stryker armored fighting vehicles.”
Headquartered in Reston, Virginia. Employees: 116,000.
Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY INTO FOURTEEN BOOK-LENGTH PDFs:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN — Please share:
a.) the coolest thing you learned this week related to business, economics, finance.
b.) the coolest thing you learned in your life related to business, economics, finance.
c.) anything at all related to business, economics, finance.
d.) anything at all
