French Arms Sales SpikeOctober 01, 2009
France sold $9.5 billion worth of arms in 2008, a 13% jump over 2007. That makes France the world's fourth-largest arms exporter, with a 7.7% market share. The United States is the clear leader with a 52.3% market share, followed by the United Kingdom at 13.7% and Russia at 8.2%, according to an article in Defense News. A French Defense Ministry spokesman attributed the jump in sales to higher demand for the Airbus A330 air tankers and helicopters. The U.K. solidified its second-place position with the sale of 72 Eurofighter Typhoon jets to Saudi Arabia. France has not had a major fighter deal since the late 1990s when it agreed to sell 32 Mirage 2000-9 jets to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to Defense News. European nations accounted for 19.1% of the world arms sales. This underscores the importance of having standards that allow movement of weapons systems between European countries, said the French Defense Ministry spokesman. According to the article, France's medium-term goal is to reach about $14 billion in annual sales. Almost 57% of France's exports have come from the aerospace sector recently, including orders for A330 MultiRole tanker and transport planes bought by Australia, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, and orders for the EC725, NH90 and Tiger helicopters, according to the article. France is increasingly shifting its reliance on sales to the Middle East, South America and Asia, countries that were not shoppers over the past decade. |
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