Saudi Arabia ‘Biggest Arms Importer’

Saudi arms imports rise by ‘unprecedented’ 54 percent

Saudi imports of arms rose 54 percent to $6.5 billion in 2014, while India imported $5.8 billion, according to data released by IHS.

The country’s imports, based on planned deliveries, will increase by an additional 52 percent to $9.8 billion this year, accounting for one out of every seven dollars spent on arms globally, IHS estimated.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) imported a total of $8.7 billion of weapons last year—more than the entire Western Europe, said the report.

Global Arms Trade

Global trade in military hardware rose for the sixth consecutive year in 2014, with worldwide imports exceeding $64.4 billion, up from $56 billion, or an increase of 13.4 percent.

The US was the biggest arms exporter, with shipments of $23.7 billion, a rise of 19 percent from 2013. Russia ranked second with $10 billion, up 9 percent. The big two were followed by France, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Israel, China, Spain and Canada.

United States was also the biggest exporter to the Middle East last year, with $8.4 billion of shipments, up from $6 billion in 2013.

“The second tier of exporters to the Middle East is led by the United Kingdom with $1.9 billion, the Russian Federation with $1.5 billion, France with $1.3 billion and Germany with $1 billion,” said the report.

Biggest Exporters [Companies]

Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Airbus Group, UAC, Russian Helicopters, United Tech Corp, BAE Systems, Thales and Finmeccanica.

Biggest Importers

Saudi Arabia was followed by India, China, the UAE, Taiwan, Australia (!) , South Korea, Indonesia, Turkey and Pakistan.

[The biggest importers in 2013 were India, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Taiwan, China, Indonesia, South Korea, Egypt, Australia, and Singapore (!), according  to IHS.]

Report notes: The IHS report was created using their Aerospace, Defence & Security Markets Forecast database, and covers the entire market except for munitions and small arms, said the writers. “Anything under 57mm caliber has not been included in this study. The study only tracked programs with a primarily military function, removing homeland security and Intelligence programs. Constant US dollars are used as the study’s base. For additional information visit: www.ihs.com/jmf “

Related Links

• World’s Most Unethical Country Also “Greatest Threat to Global Peace” January 2, 2014
• Most Unethical Nations in 2011 [and Probably 2012] December 31, 2011

Record winter warmth in the U.S. West

Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, and Washington experience warmest winter on record: NWS

California also broke the winter (December 2014-February 2015) temperature topping the previous seasonal record set just last year by 1.5°F.

An additional five states—Alaska, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon and Wyoming—had one of their 10 warmest winters on record.

The western U.S. was warmer than average, with eight states also recording a top 10 warm February.

In contrast, many northeastern states experienced their second coldest temperatures on record, with  temperatures plummeting to record cold in several individual cities.

Record snowfalls were widespread in the East, while record warmth engulfed much of the West, said NWS.

The winter contiguous U.S. temperature was 34.3°F, 2.1°F above the 20^th century average, but the February temperature was 33.1°F, 0.7°F below the 20^th century average, ranking near the median value for February in the 121-year period of record*.

The February Lower 48 precipitation total was 1.70 inches, 0.43 inch below average, and marked the 20^th driest on record. The winter precipitation total was 6.12 inches, 0.67 inch below average, and the 27^th driest. Despite near-normal precipitation in February, long-term drought concerns continue in the West, compounded by a lack of mountain snowpack.

NOAA National Climatic Data Center, State of the Climate: National Overview for February 2015, published online March 2015, retrieved on March 8, 2015 from http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/sotc/national/2015/2.

Fire-Earth Alert: 332015 – Third

CJ Members:

Details of the Alert ‘332015’ will be broadcast again on FIRE-EARTH Channels on March 8, 2015 at the following times:

• 15:32, 16:32, 21:32, 22:32 and 23:32UTC

Related Links

• FIRE-EARTH Alert – March 3, 2015 March 3, 2015
• Fire-Earth Alert: 332015 – Second March 6, 2015