Research issues
Measuring arms production
The SIPRI programme on arms production was initiated in 1989 to study developments in the arms industry. The programme collects information on the major arms-producing companies and describes and analyses their adjustment to the changed economic and political context and the resulting changes in industrial structures.
Trends in the arms industry
Important changes are still taking place in the international arms industry, although the post-cold war restructuring of the international arms industry has shown some signs of subsiding. Current developments in the arms industry include the increasing concentration and internationalization of production, the increasing importance of IT and electronics companies within the defence sector and the outsourcing of functions that were once carried out within the military establishment.
Concentration in the arms industry
This page provides a general background on arms industry concentration.
Transparency in the arms industry
The arms industry—armaments industry, weapons industry, military industry, or defence industry—supplies goods and services that have a crucial impact on relations between and within countries. It is therefore essential that the activities of the industry are subject to measures of regulation and control by governments and ultimately, to rules of public accountability. However, available information on the arms industry is generally very limited and certainly inadequate to support public accountability.
The private military services industry
A marked development in the arms industry over the past twenty years, which has accelerated as a result of the Iraq war, is the growing importance of companies providing military services, as distinct from military equipment.
