Stockholm: Global arms sales increased by nearly 2% in 2021, the seventh consecutive year of increases, an international arms sales watchdog noted Monday.
It added that the war in Ukraine had increased demand for weapons this year, but the conflict may also lead to a supply challenge, not least because Russia is a major supplier of raw materials used in arms production.
That could hamper efforts in the United States and Europe to strengthen their armed forces and replenish their stockpiles after sending billions of dollars' worth of ammunition and other equipment to Ukraine, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, said.
"Increasing output takes time" said Diego Lopes da Silva, a senior researcher with SIPRI, adding that if the supply chain disruptions continue,
"it may take several years for some of the main arms producers to meet the new demand created by the Ukraine war."
SIPRI noted that some reports indicate that Russian companies are increasing production because of the war but have had difficulty accessing semiconductors and are also being impacted by war-related sanctions.
It gave the example of a company that said that it has not been able to receive payments for some of its arms export deliveries.
Arms sales in 2021 reached
592 billion and was up 1.9% which was higher than the previous period but still below the average for the four years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In its report published Monday, SIPRI said that "many parts of the arms industry were still affected by pandemic-related disruptions in global supply chains in 2021, which included delays in global shipping and shortages of vital components."
We might have expected even greater growth in arms sales in 2021 without persistent supply chain issues,' said Dr Lucie B raud-Sudreau, head of the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme.
She singled out companies, such as Airbus and General Dynamics, which also reported labour
shortages.