US $60 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia is considered to be one of the largest-ever US weapons sales. (File Photo)Will The US Always Be Top Arms Seller? -- Alarabiya News
America’s manufacturing base has been shrinking for years and the US ranks a mere fourth on the list of the world’s exporters but it is set to score yet another record this year in a category where it has no equals – selling guns, tanks, missiles, warplanes and assorted other weapons to the world.
By September, the end of the 2011 fiscal year, the government expects to have sold $46 billion worth of military hardware and services. The estimate, which comes from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, represents a whopping $14.5 billion increase and cements America’s position as arms merchant to the world. It has deals with 165 countries and some of the most sophisticated big-ticket items going to the Middle East (F-15 fighter jets for Saudi Arabia, advanced missiles for the United Arab Emirates).
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Update: U.S. arms makers look overseas as domestic demand shrinks -- L.A Times
My Comment: For the foreseeable future the U.S. will remain the world's arms merchant. What will eventually change this situation is dependent on what will happen (economically) in the U.S.. My prediction .... the financial/debt crisis will impact America's defense industries, and if the U.S. starts to downsize its military, the eventual decrease in orders and R&D will only mean a smaller and less competitive U.S. defense industry.
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