The United States continues to export more
arms than
any other country in the world, according to a defense advisory service. It says
U.S. arms manufacturers exported tens of billions of dollars in weapons last
year. The advisory service IHS Jane’s released its Global
Defense Trade Report on Sunday. The report shows the international defense
market increased by $6.6 billion in 2015 to $65 billion. The U.S. exported
nearly $23 billion in weapons to other countries, especially to the Middle East. That
represents an increase of $10 billion since 2009, the report says. “The global
defense trade market has never seen an increase as large as the one we saw
between 2014 and 2015,” says Ben Moores, who works for IHS Jane’s. He adds that
“2015 was a record-breaking year.”
Weapons sales from French companies last year were more than two times the total
in 2014 -- increasing from $8 billion to $18 billion. The report said if that
rate of increase continues, France will pass Russia as the second-largest
weapons exporter by 2018. The increase in arms sales last year was mainly the
result of increased demand from Middle Eastern
countries. They got about $21.6 billion worth of weapons, including $8.8 billion
from the United States.
* export = 수출하다/ arms =
(특히 군대의) 무기/ advisory service = 고문 업무/ release = (대중들에게) 공개[발표]하다/ the Middle
East = 중동/ record-breaking = 기록을 깨는, 전례가 없는/ demand =
수요
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates bought about
half of the weapons sold to Middle Eastern countries. They got about 17.5
percent of all global defense imports, or $11.4 billion. Saudi Arabia was the
single largest weapons importer last year. It bought several kinds of
aircraft,
precision-guided
weapons, and intelligence-gathering
equipment. Saudi Arabia is fighting rebels in Yemen and trying
to stay competitive
with Iran. Iran is growing stronger because Western nations
have eased restrictions as part of an
agreement Iran signed to limit its nuclear activities. Iran is buying new
equipment for its air
force, and is likely to increase trade with Russia. The IHS
report says in years to
come, Iran could spend between $40 billion and $60 billion
replacing its older airplanes. Egypt has sharply increased the amount of money
it spends on defense. It spent up to $2.3 billion last year. It is now the
world’s fourth-largest weapons importer. Countries around the South China Sea
have increased their defense spending by 71 percent since 2009 as they try to
limit China’s influence in the area. The report predicts the weapons trade will
continue to increase worldwide. It says arms spending will total about $69
billion this year.
* aircraft = 항공기/
precision-guided weapon = 정밀 유도 무기[병기]/ intelligence-gathering = 정보 수집/ rebel =
반역자, 반대자/ stay competitive with ~ = ~와 경쟁력을 유지하다/ ease = 덜어주다; 편하게 해주다/
restriction = 제한[규제]/ air force = 공군/ in years to come = 앞으로,
장래에
US Continues to Lead in Weapons Exports - WTS.mp3