Arms Production in Third World Countries, Effects on Industrialisation

The domestic production of arms in developing countries is — with remarkably few exceptions — a fairly recent phenomenon.1 The creation of arms production programmes in developing countries has been associated with a variety of conflicting motives and expectations. The first group of these are military and political in nature: it is hoped to increase independence through self-sufficiency in arms production; arms production can also be precipitated by actual or potential threats from neighbouring countries; it might be a matter of prestige to provide one’s armed forces with indigenously produced arms and, occasionally, it is claimed that the arms industry can promote regional dominance. The second set of arguments in favour of domestic Third World arms production are economic in nature: it is hoped to reduce the cost of arms procurement, to contribute indirectly to the development of the economy by improving the skills of the manpower engaged in arms production, and to keep abreast of modern technology in general by making use of technological spinoffs of sophisticated arms production technology.