UK arms export data
Information about UK arms exports is available in two main forms - licences that have been granted (or occasionally refused) and actual deliveries. The government also estimates total orders for "defence equipment and services".
Export licences
- CAAT's web application provides the easiest means of accessing this information. The data is sourced from the Dept for Business, Innovation & Skills' UK export licence database
- The government's list of military and dual-use items details the types of equipment that require an export licence, and the government's Strategic Export Controls annual reports provide further background on the export licensing process.
Deliveries
- Overseas trade statistics are provided by HM Revenue & Customs, although they are not easy to navigate
Orders
- Estimated orders for arms and related services are provided by the MoD's Defence Analytical Services and Advice
Arms export promotion
- The government's arms promotion unit, UKTI Defence & Security Organisation (UKTI DSO), has identified priority markets and produced marketing guides for a number of these
Arms embargoes
- The Foreign office has a list of current arms embargoes relevant to the UK
- The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has a database of international arms embargoes
Global, EU & US arms export data
CAAT uses two main sources for international arms trade figures: SIPRI which uses public sources but does not include components or services; and the US Congressional Research Service (CRS) which uses non-public US Government data. UN and EU data is also linked below.
- Global: SIPRI's arms transfers database provides lists of specific arms transfers as well as overall values
- Global: US CRS reports: September 2011; previous reports
- Global: UN Register of Conventional Arms
- EU: Annaul Reports: December 2011; previous reports
- US: The US Department of State notifies Congress of the intent to export larger volumes of arms. In addition, the US Department of Defense provides daily lists of contracts valued at over $6.5 million. These include exports that are contracted by the US government
Arms companies
Basic information about arms companies can be found from the UK arms industry's online directory, Companies House and individual company websites. A wider sense of their activities might be gained from their attendance at arms fairs such as DSEi.
- BDEC-online: the UK arms industry's directory
- Companies House: information on UK companies
- DSEi 2011 arms fair's list of exhibitors
- Disarm DSEi's map of DSEi 2009 exhibitors
After this, if the company is not one of the major arms producers, it often becomes difficult to obtain information. However, local press may have stories and angles that are useful, and investigative journalists, campaign organisations or local activists may have uncovered information on controversial deals.
The major arms companies
The largest arms companies have a lot of information in the general and trade media, and the existence (though not the details) of many of their deals will be in the public domain. Researchers have also produced profiles of a number of the companies.
- SIPRI - list of the 100 largest arms companies
- CAAT - BAE webpages and Finmeccanica webpages
- Corporate Watch - BAE & Raytheon profiles
- Campagne tegen Wapenhandel (Netherlands) - EADS
- Crocodyl (US) - many companies
There are also UK campaigns about individual companies:
CAAT holds older information about major arms companies here.
Please note that CAAT is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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