Russia arms industry second behind US

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Russia has overtaken Britain to become the world's second biggest arms producer behind the United States, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) said in a report published on Monday. "Russian companies have experienced significant growth in their arms sales since 2011," Sipri senior researcher Siemon Wezeman said in a statement. "This is in line with Russia's increased spending on arms procurement to modernize its armed forces." Russia had 10 companies in Sipri's list of the world's "Top 100" arms-producing and military services companies in 2017, accounting for 9.5 percent of sales. The 10 companies' sales totaled $37.7 billion ($33 billion euros), Sipri said. That put Russia in second place, a position that had been held by Britain since 2002.