U.S. remains world's largest supplier of arms despite the crisis

U.S. last year strengthened its position as a leading global supplier of military equipment despite the global economic crisis, writes today The New York Times.
Washington in 2008 was awarded contracts worth 37.8 billion dollars on arms exports, which exceeds U.S. $ 12.4 billion the previous year's result and is equivalent to 68.4% of the total of these transactions on a global scale, reflected in a report by the U.S. Congress.
The biggest contracts of 2008 were the sale of U.S. anti-aircraft systems to UAE, for 6.5 billion dollars; supply fighters to Morocco, 2.1 billion dollars, and export of helicopters to support Taiwan, for two billion dollars.
Italy became the second largest exporter of arms, closing in 2008 contracts worth 3.7 billion dollars. Russia takes third place, with 3.5 billion dollars.