Arms spending tops a trillion euros

Global military spending reached a record high last year, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Of the 1.1 trillion euros spent overall, the United States took the lion’s share with 48 percent. And it is likely to set a new level at Eurosatory, the world’s largest defence and security fair which opened in Paris today.

John Ward from US missile maker, Lockheed Martin, says improved technology costs: “There are a lot more precision-guided weapons with no real collateral effects. In other words, you can now pinpoint the target much better than we could in the old days.” Europe was the only region with a decrease in arms spending by 1.7 percent, mostly because of budget constraints in Germany and Italy. France’s Defence Minister, Michèle Alliot-Marie says Europe is cooperating well on industrial research but she has called on some members to boost their defence budgets.

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