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For large countries, the arms trade is also more important, because the continuous arms trade is a good way to improve their national influence, so in the past few decades, Russia, United States, United Kingdom, France and other powerful countries have taken the opportunity to sell their weapons to countries around the world.
However, with the occurrence of geopolitical conflicts such as the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the global arms trade is currently facing a reshuffle. In 2023, the total amount of United States arms exports will be 238 billion, and even the Korea will be 13.5 billion, so what is the value of China's arms exports?
United States leads the world in arms exports
It is very normal for United States to be in the leading position in the world in terms of arms exports, and this is directly related to the special position of United States in the global military industry. And the popularity of United States arms dates back to the interwar period.
At that time, United States weapons and equipment did not have obvious advantages over other world powers, but United States was already the world's largest industrial country very early, so during World War I and World War II, United States had a large amount of weapons and equipment to aid allied countries.
During World War II, the Soviet army was also equipped with a large number of United States transport trucks and a small number of tanks, which also passed the test of war, and American-style equipment was loved and recognized by more and more countries. Later, during the Cold War, the United States became a superpower that could confront the Soviet Union head-on.
The major European powers that once had the ability to play head-on with United States in the field of military industry could no longer maintain a strong military-industrial system because they suffered huge losses in two world wars.
Since that time, some European countries have been buying American-style equipment. Moreover United States on other continents, a number of cooperative countries with which United States have maintained close relations have also been supported, such as Japan, Korea, and even the Philippines, which are potential buyers of United States military equipment.
Although during the Cold War, the United States army rarely won battles, and the Viet Nam War and the Korean War ended in defeat, when fighting the Gulf War, United States fully demonstrated the reliability of American-style equipment.
At that time, the main battle tanks produced by the Soviets and sold to Iraq were not at all opponents of United States main battle tanks, so the Gulf War completely made a name for itself as American-style equipment.
In addition, the collapse of the Soviet Union caused United States to lose its biggest opponent in the field of military industry, so until now, United States's weapons and equipment are still very popular, and many people think that United States equipment is high-end and advanced when it comes to equipment.
In the era of changes in the international situation in 2023, the total volume of arms exports in United States has increased even more. United States arms exports totaled $238 billion that year, an increase of 16% over the same period in 2022, making it the world's largest arms exporter.
You must know that the money earned by United States from arms exports every year is already more than the military spending of many countries in the world, and the military spending of Russia, Japan, Germany and other countries may not have this figure combined, which shows how strong the military export capacity of United States is.
Korea's arms exports are growing rapidly
Compared with United States' arms exports, Korea's side is indeed a little worse, and the total arms exports in 2023 will be $13.5 billion, which is a cliff-like gap with United States.
But what we need to see is what Korea's achievement really represents. Many people ridicule Korea, feeling that Korea is weak and small, but it is very proud.
If we look at Korea from a global perspective, we can be surprised to find that Korea is not weak in fact, and the Korea government has built a relatively complete industrial system through various means.
In the case that the Korea itself is more dependent on United States, Korea still has a relatively strong military production capacity, and can design and produce some advanced weapons by itself, including main battle tanks, howitzers and even advanced fighters and transport aircraft.
Although these equipment cannot be compared with American equipment in terms of performance alone, it is not the same thing to have military production capacity and not have it. Moreover, Korea's goods are sold cheaper than United States' military products, which has laid a solid foundation for Korea's arms exports.
The outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has given Korea's arms exports a great boost, because after the outbreak of the conflict, European countries began to provide comprehensive military assistance to Ukraine.
However, the military industrial capacity of European countries is already limited and cannot maintain long-term and large military support for Ukraine. So in such a situation, some European countries began to choose to buy weapons and equipment from countries with strong military industrial production capacity, and then aid Ukraine, including Poland.
And Poland's chosen partner is Korea, because the weapons exported by Korea are indeed cheap and of good quality.
Poland has purchased a large number of K2 main battle tanks and K9 self-propelled howitzers from Korea, as well as a small amount of multiple rocket launchers, and aid to Ukraine, Poland is said to have spent $15 billion on Korea's weapons and equipment alone.
Then there are other small and medium-sized countries, such as the Philippines, the U.A.E., etc., which also have the idea of purchasing Korea equipment. At present, Korea's total arms exports have nearly doubled compared with 2021, and although the export value in 2023 is billions less than in 2022, it has basically remained above 10 billion.
This is already very good for a medium-sized country like Korea, and the tens of billions of dollars of revenue can allow Korea to maintain the current scale of its military industry, and then it can also find ways to expand production capacity and develop more new weapons and equipment.
Therefore, the development speed of Korea's military technology in the past two years is relatively fast, so everyone should not underestimate Korea too much, Korea is still very advantageous compared with other countries.
China's arms exports have been relatively stable
It has always been difficult to define the exact amount of China's arms exports, but many foreign research institutions are collecting relevant data.
For example, data released by the Stockholm Research Institute in Sweden show that China's total arms exports a year are about $51 billion, four to five times that of Korea, but a fraction of that of United States, which is strictly speaking.
First of all, China has a long history of exporting weapons and equipment, as early as the Cold War, China once gave assistance to friendly countries or sold some weapons and equipment at low prices, such as Iraq, Iran, and North Korea, all bought Chinese weapons.
It's just that China was an exporter of low-end weapons at that time, and even if it wanted to export high-end weapons at that time, it didn't have the ability. Until recent years, China's military industry has developed by leaps and bounds, and the People's Liberation Army (PLA) has also acquired a large number of advanced weapons and equipment, which has also made it possible to export some relatively less advanced weapons and equipment.
In recent years, we have sold a small number of J-10 fighters, and not long ago there was news that Cambodia is about to accept two Chinese-made light missile frigates, and it can be said that China's exports are shifting from the low-end to the high-end.
Under such circumstances, it is possible to export equipment and arms to about 50 billion yuan a year, but it is relatively difficult for China's military exports to further develop.
The first is that the share of the global arms market is already limited, and for most countries, the purchasing capacity of the military industry is also limited. Now that the mid-to-high-end arms market is basically occupied by United States, Russia, France and other countries, it is difficult for China's military exports to break the situation.
Then there is the fact that for the current Chinese military industry, the priority is not to produce enough weapons for export, but to meet the domestic demand for weapons.
The current PLA itself is in the stage of equipment upgrading, and the amount of equipment of many advanced weapons of the PLA is actually not much, such as the J-20 fighter.
At present, the service volume of the PLA J-20 fighter is only a fraction of the total number of F35 and F22 in United States, so China's air production capacity is first to meet the service needs of the PLA fifth-generation aircraft.
The production capacity of the PLA Navy shipyards must first meet the needs of the Chinese army for advanced warships, so in such a situation, the production capacity that can remain to produce advanced weapons for foreign countries will not be too large.
In the end, China's arms exports often have a bottom line, and it is impossible for us to export weapons and equipment unscrupulously. When China talks about arms trade with other countries, it often sells weapons and equipment through formal channels, through direct connections between countries and between enterprises.
This kind of sales method is relatively strict, and it will also limit the amount of sales, of course, the advantage of this is that it can avoid the presence of weapons and equipment produced in China where they should not appear.
Therefore, from the current point of view, it is in China's best interests to temporarily maintain the total annual military export volume within a standard range. There is no need to be too aggressive about increasing arms exports, as long as we meet the demand and become a supplement to China's military industrial system.
epilogue
At present, China's total arms exports do have a cliff-like gap with United States, but it also has advantages over Korea. The main reason for the large amount of United States arms exports is that the United States has advanced equipment, and it has long become a habit for many Western countries to use American equipment.
The total import and export volume of Korea has been growing, mainly because Korea's equipment is of good quality and cost-effective, and the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has given Korea's military industry opportunities.
For China, it is now in the role of low-end weapons and equipment manufacturers to high-end, and the PLA has a relatively large demand for advanced weapons and equipment, so for a long time in the future, China's military exports may remain in a relatively stable range.
Resources:
Zhu Ji said2024-10-17 The gap between China, the United States and South Korea in arms exports in 23 years: 238 billion in United States, 13.5 billion in Korea, what about China?
Planeming2024-10-15China, the United States and South Korea 23 years of arms exports cliff: United States 238 billion, Korea 13.5 billion, China how much
Xiaozai Browsing Hall2024-10-17China, the United States and South Korea 23 years of arms exports cliff: United States 238 billion, Korea 13.5 billion, China how much
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