Meet the World's Hottest Upstart Weapons Dealers

A ferocious global arms race is big business.

- 

The Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing will be anything but peaceful on Sept 3, when Mr Xi Jinping, Mr Kim Jong Un, Mr Vladimir Putin and others gather to celebrate the end of World War II.

Chinese troops will march in a parade designed to boost national pride and flex military muscles. Perhaps most importantly, the parade will showcase China's newest war-fighting equipment to potential buyers and potential adversaries.

The world's military planners are spending big on new weapons. The war in Ukraine, threats of abandonment by America and worries that China might invade Taiwan have countries scrambling to fill stockpiles, harden supply chains and secure flows of munitions. There is a voracious appetite for tanks, artillery, fighter jets and drones.

Yet, not all of this is rewarding traditional exporters in America, Europe and Russia. Instead, two ambitious middle powers, South Korea and Turkey, are capitalising on the boom.

The arms race reflects a larger realignment. Europe's arms companies need time to restore capacity lost after the end of the Cold War and to rebuild inventories depleted by donations to Ukraine. Russia, usually the second-biggest arms exporter after America, is prioritising its own army after years of equipment losses in Ukraine.

Western sanctions stop its firms from getting components critical to building advanced platforms, like fighter jets. In 2024, Russian exports were down by nearly 50 per cent from 2022 and its order books were subdued. Clients such as India, Vietnam and Egypt are looking elsewhere.

Many are turning to South Korea. While America is the biggest exporter of arms to European Nato members, South Korea and France are tied in second place. Worldwide, in some categories of weapons such as tanks and artillery, South Korea is outselling America.