Arms Sales Hit First Slump in Years

Wall Street Journal: STOCKHOLM—Arms sales by the world's largest weapons makers fell in 2011, representing the first decline since the mid-1990s as austerity measures and a reduced U.S. presence in Iraq and Afghanistan hit military spending.

The 100 largest arms-producing companies sold $410 billion of weapons and military services in 2011, representing a 5% decline from the previous year, according to a report released on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI.

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