Research institute says the country is now the world’s seventh largest buyer of major weapons, mainly from the US

This article is more than 6 years old

This article is more than 6 years old

Australia’s share of international arms imports has doubled in the past four years, making it the seventh largest major weapons importer in the world, figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) show.



More than three quarters of these weapons were sourced from the US, according to Sipri. Australia was the leading customer for American weapons followed closely by South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.



The institute publishes an annual database of international arms sales, measured in terms of the military capability being transferred rather than price.



The data, which spans 2009 to 2013, does not include Australia’s largest-ever weapons deal – 58 F35 Joint Strike Fighters bought from the United States in April for $12.4bn.



Andrew Davies, a senior analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said the higher imports didn’t necessarily reflect an arms race but rather a new approach to acquiring weapons.



“We’re buying more stuff off the shelves and building less of it ourselves,” he said.



He pointed to recent purchases of amphibious ships from Spain and Boeing C17 airlifters and Boeing F18 Super Hornets from the US as examples of major weapons sourced from overseas.



“What we’re seeing is really a modernisation of the major equipment of the ADF [Australian Defence Forces],” he said.



Though the US remains the world’s largest supplier of military materiel, Chinese weapons exports increased by a staggering 212%.



Three-quarters of Chinese weaponry went to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.



Major weapons exports from France and Germany declined.



The Abbott government has promised to boost Australia’s defence spending to about 2% of GDP in the next decade, allocating an extra $2.3b to defence in last month’s federal budget with another big jump in spending scheduled for 2017-2018 .



Even larger funding increases would be needed each year after 2018 to reach the 2% goal, defence economist Mark Thomson has noted.



Australia’s military expenditure was the 13th highest in the world last year.

